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| A Case of Mistaken Identity by Conquistadora | 45 Review(s) |
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| nessie6 | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 4/24/2004 |
| You are absolutely right! Thranduil deserves better treatment from fanfiction writers. There was nothing that indicated he was a cruel Elf, and you have a lot of proof against that. He even named Bilbo "Elf-friend" and Elves don't usually hand out that name to just random mortals. I love how great authors such as Thundera Tiger, Jocelyn, and daw the minstrel portray him, because they write him as a loving father, but that he also has a duty to his kingdom. He might get irritated quicker than other Elven lords because, well, his whole realm is getting eaten up by the Shadow, yet it is Lorien that is closer to Dol Guldor and is doing much better than Mirkwood. The poor Elf's probably frustrated! I've only read The Hobbit, LotR, and am only halfway done with The Silmarillion, but I see that he's not cruel, as even some people who have read all of Tolkien's work portrays him as an abusive father and a rapist! But I see Thranduil as a very powerful and intimidating leader. That's what draws me to him, because he has easily become one of my favorite characters. Sure he has a soft spot for jewels, but it said in The Hobbit that he had less jewels than other Elven rulers. This was good, I knew Thranduil to be kind and not evil already, but I wanted to see what you had down to prove that was those things, and you had a lot of information. Note that Bilbo was in the company of dwarves in The Hobbit, and thus, the Elvenking's characters seems a little...harsh. I regret that Tolkien never wrote much more about him, since he's a complicated and very fascinating character. But I'm sure Tolkien never intended Thranduil to be misunderstood as this ruthless, demon Elf. Good essay, and I hope you convinced at least some people! Author Reply: Thanks! So do I. What's more, Thranduil is rough and tough and RESPECTABLE. An irresistable combination for me. :D | |
| Ms. Whatsit | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 4/13/2004 |
| YES! *Thank* you for writing this. I love good old stubborn Thranduil, and I'm *sick* of reading fic upon fic where he beats or sexually abuses Legolas, or even just makes his life a living hell by being nasty, and froths at the mouth about dwarves and Men and the Noldor. Even good authors have him throwing a huge and undignified tantrum over Legolas's friendship with Gimli and refusing to speak with him afterwards. Really, Thranduil lets Legolas go off to fix up Ithilien with a whole bunch of Elves even though Greenwood was just devastated by a war and probably needed rebuilding--he seems a pretty understanding father! Author Reply: Ditto! And I don't think the Greenwood elves would have put up with a brat of a king for three thousand years. *Come on*, people! | |
| Tinnuial | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 2/25/2004 |
| Thank you for this amazing essay on Thranduil. The poor fellow is so terribly misunderstood. It gladdens my heart to see him defended so eloquently. When they finally get round to making "The Hobbit", I hope they make this essay required reading before they start scripting!!! :) Thank you again! Author Reply: I do worry about PJ and "The Hobbit." *Please* do not make of him a Denethor! | |
| fadagaski | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 2/23/2004 |
| Thank you so much for that essay. I personally find Elves difficult to even comprehend, much less write, which is why I prefer the Mirkwood Elves - they're more human than those of Imladris and Lothlorien, simply because of their attitude to life (ie. laugh now, because you'll die later). Your essay on Thranduil not only explained his character in a way I can understand (leaving out the archaic language that so distinguishes Tolkien), but also shared insight into the minds of Elves in general, particularly the Mirkwood variety. Any author - Elf-styled or otherwise - would be wise to read this for the clever, canon-backed arguments on Elven disposition. Already I have recommended it to another author, who happens to find the character of Legolas annoyingly difficult to work with. Again, many thanks! Author Reply: Elves, I guess, need to come naturally to an author. I've never had any considerable trouble with them, though I have to make an effort to be more "elvish" than I otherwise would be; for example, I'm not a huge nature lover (nothing personal, but mosquitoes and I just don't get along). ^_^ As always, I'm thrilled to be of any help. :) It makes it all worthwhile. | |
| Morrigan | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 2/13/2004 |
| Wonderful essay! I congratulate you for that. I too hate the way many fanfics characterize Thranduil. I don’t think Tolkien ever thought of him like the monster these people write. I have no idea how people could think so low of this character. I loved Thranduil in ‘The Hobbit’ and I never saw him as the greedy and unfair king everyone portrays. I agree with you 99% in everything. The other 1% is for something that I somewhat disagree with you. In ‘The Hobbit’ I don’t think he ever did want anything with that treasure, except give it to the humans, who had a right to it. Or did he? I could be mistaken, my memory might trick me or it can be some misunderstanding in translation (I read it translated into Portuguese). Now now… you certainly made me want to read it again! I totally agree with you that the book was made in a dwarven point of view and that Thranduil made nothing wrong, that everything he did was not only his right but also his duty to protect his people. Actually, The Hobbit made me hate the dwarves. THEY were the greedy bastards that had nothing more on their heads than thoughts of jewels and gold. Actually, they did almost nothing. Bilbo did everything, and it was he and Bard who killed the dragon while the dwarves were hiding in a hole on the ground. So they weren’t only greedy but also cowards!! Thranduil, having no part on the destruction of the city of the humans, helped them without thinking twice or demanding anything. The dwarves, whose expedition woke the dragons wrath and made it ruin the human city, refused to give what the dragon stole from the humans. Their behavior after the dragon was killed was disgusting. If not for Bilbo, they wouldn’t even be alive and they acted like they killed the dragon. I really cant understand why people always make Thranduil look like a villain and make the dwarves look like courageous and rightful, like victims or (even worse) heroes in the story! In relation to Tolkien… I’ve read many times that he loved nature and despised the so called progress. The One Ring is, including, an analogy to that. To the destruction of nature by technology. I think Peter Jackson passed this message pretty well on his movies, specially on The Two Towers. Just remember Treebeard talking about Sarumans change of behavior towards nature, Saruman saying that a new age of technology was coming, Saruman destroying the forest, his “orc factory” J, the march of the ents, etc… I didnt read all of Tolkiens books (yet) and I might be mistaken but I thought that, because of that way of thinking, that he should like the sindar and silvan elves more than the noldor. He always portrays the noldor as avid for knowledge and technology, something that he condemned in real life. And it seems that all the elves that turned to darkness (or at least the worse of them) were noldor. So saying I think that he would prefer the sindar and silvan and would never write Thranduil like a villain. Unfortunately Tolkien wrote so few about them…that is contradictory to what I said here, except if he really preferred to show the flaws and sins. Well… you really wrote everything that I also had stuck on my throat (so to speak) and couldn’t get out. Wonderfully done!!! I also would like to express my repulsion not only to evil Thranduil fics but also to all that garbage that people write. It seems that 90% of fanfictions out there fall on one of 3 categories: (1) the so called mary-sues where immature girls see themselves marrying Legolas, specially the girls-falling-on-middle-earth category (giving up immortality is a must); (2) the work of some people with real psychopath and/or sadists tendencies that love to write/read about grotesque torture of loved characters, specially Legolas (rape is a must) or (3) slash. How I hate all of them!!!!!! And to that I would like to praise this site that filters the great majority of that trash! Congratulations!!!!! Author Reply: I can tell everyone feels strongly about this subject just by looking at all these giant reviews! Hm, I think it might be asking just a bit too much of the general readership to believe Thranduil was completely uninterested in the treasure, but he certainly wasn't fixated by it. I have no doubt that even if he had been able to claim a big chunk of it he would have shared freely with the men of Laketown, unlike Thorin who wanted it ALL. Sheesh. Thranduil is such a great character! Certainly an Elvenking to be reckoned with. And I agree completely with all points above: (1), (2), and (3). >_< Even though Tolkien left the doors wide open, I have to think he would have been leery of fanfiction for just these reasons. It is impossible to supervise, and every Elf-stricken idiot out there is going to try their hand at it, regardless of know-how or intent. Ugh. Anyhow, glad you liked it, and welcome to the True-to-Tolkien crusade! | |
| Nikara | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 2/13/2004 |
| Wow! That was an awesome argument. I completely agree. Wonderful job with this. I'm very glad that it has been written. I wish that new authors had this as required reading(along with actually reading the books in the first place!) Author Reply: You aren't the only one who wants to make it required reading! And yes, if you want to write fanfiction, it is generally customary to have read the orginals so you have some idea of just what you're talking about! Feel free to spread this around, if you like. Just in case you know of any Evil!Thranduilites that need some correction . . . :) | |
| Lera | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 2/13/2004 |
| That was a really well written and enjoyable read. I had actually always agreed that Thranduil was not Evil. There was never any evidence for it, and your essay just laid it all out. Author Reply: I had hoped it would. :) In any event, maybe this helped avert some Evil!Thranduils sprung of the ignorance catagory. | |
| Karri | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 2/13/2004 |
| Nicely argued! :-) (Pale in comparison to the other reviews. Sorry 'bout that. :-/) Author Reply: Makes it easier to answer! ;) | |
| LOTR lover | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 2/13/2004 |
| Brava! A most well-written and well-researched piece. When I saw the essay had 11 chapters I was a bit hesitant on starting to read, but I was greatly rewarded. Thranduil is one of my favorite Tolkien characters, and I certainly have no idea where in the Professor's writings the Evil!Thranduil concept could have arisen. Talk about slander! Author Reply: The cold hard truth is that THERE IS NO EVIL!THRANDUIL! Dang, I wish the other half of the overall fandom would have that beaten into them! I realized the 11 chapters might put some off, so I was sure to label it "short". I suppose I could have lumped it all together in one chapter, but somehow I find that longer scroll-bars encourage further reading! | |
| Camp6311 | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 2/13/2004 |
| Excellent piece of writing! Now how about taking on Denethor who is even more maligned in fan-fiction than Thranduil. Author Reply: Erm, I think Denethor is best left to other hands than mine! He would be somewhat harder to defend than Thranduil was, although I agree that he was beaten a bit more than was perhaps called for in the movie. And I certainly wouldn't pin those especially-nasty paternal stigmas on any of them. | |