News Resources
Login
Become a member
Help
Search
|
|
| About Us News Resources
Login
Become a member
Help
Search
|
|
|
| Just In Case by Marnie | 15 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| French Pony | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 12/7/2004 |
| I thought this started out a little wobbly, but it really picked up speed about halfway through, and the ending was just great. I like the image of Celeborn crouched up there in the trees -- it's not an image that one thinks of often; he seems too, oh, what's a good word for it, square maybe, to go climbing trees. But he is still a Sindar Elf, and they do live in three dimensions. I think it's the robes. You can't climb a tree in robes, and Celeborn is the sort of guy who was probably born clothed in robes and dignity. I have to say that, although the section where Celeborn chats with Annatar and contemplates his marital status was well written, there was something about it that didn't quite work for me. I think it was the part when the theme turned to the idea that, with the Ring, Celeborn would be thought of as a Lord in his own right. I believe that the phrase "oafish native husband" cropped up in there. I don't quite buy Celeborn thinking that way; that sounds a little too much like Marnie talking and not Celeborn. Our boy did have the chutzpah to marry a great and powerful lady of the Noldor in the first place, and though Tolkien says that it was hardly unknown for married couples to separate, Celeborn had not, at that point in the story, been separated from Galadriel, as he might have done were he feeling overpowered by her. He just strikes me as too secure and self-confident, being Lord of his land (and in Lothlorien, they are his people; she's the foreigner), to still be entertaining those doubts. His idea that, with the Ring, he could order all Orcs to die struck me as very real. There are few things more terrible than a daddy whose daughter has been hurt (the mom of said daughter is about the only one), and such wounded daddies have been known to do terrible things. Everyone remembers that Elrond lost a wife and his kids lost a mother, but Celeborn and Galadriel lost their baby girl. I also liked him taking strength from his tree. You've taken what could be a very silly image -- Celeborn literally turning into a tree-hugger -- and made it very powerful. I loved the imagery of the sap and the hardwood and the old, deep roots reaching out to care for their lord. The conversation with the guard was nicely done, and it shows the practical side of Celeborn, as well as his ruthlessness in doing what must be done, whether it is nice or not. After all, with the Noldor, the worst so often happened. And that is the truest statement of all. Author Reply: LOL! Thanks for a very thoughtful review French Pony :) It does rather fall into two halves, doesn't it. I don't know what I can do to knit them together a bit more strongly. As far as robes go, I'm not a believer in the idea that the elves all wore robes. For a bloke whose council chamber is at the top of a tree, reached by a ladder, robes just don't seem likely to me. As far as Celeborn thinking of himself as Galadriel's oafish native husband goes, I don't think he does, however I do think he's quite well aware that a lot of other powerful people *do* think of him that way. Annatar's (and Celebrimbor's) disregarding of him is in UT. The Tolkien quote for today: "the Ring of Adamant was in the Land of Lórien where dwelt the Lady Galadriel. A queen she was of the woodland Elves, the wife of Celeborn of Doriath, yet she herself was of the Noldor and remembered the Day before days in Valinor, and she was the mightiest and fairest of all the Elves that remained in Middle-earth." pretty much sums it up - he gets mentioned as being married to her, she gets the whole 'mighty ringbearer + Calaquendi Queen' business. I think he is, certainly, too self-confident and secure to worry about it normally, but it *must* grate on him a little, surely. And it's that small residual niggle of resentment that both Annatar and the Ring are amplifying into something monstrous. Just as the Ring amplifies Galadriel's desire to be admired into a monstrous desire that everyone should adore her and despair. I'd like to see someone write a story about Celebrian's capture from Celeborn and Galadriel's POV - people do seem to forget that they would care too. I'm very glad the tree thing worked. YOu're so right - it could have just made people laugh. And it always seemed unlikely to me that Celeborn, being a practical sort of person, would not have had some sort of plan in place, just in case the worst happened. Anyway, many thanks again! | |
| JastaElf | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 12/7/2004 |
| Oh, Marnie, this is lovely... in a sad, angsty sort of way.... wow. To know that the Ring tempted Celeborn, of all people... but then of course it did!! You're simply showing us what happened.... :-) Annatar is an insinuating illegitimate person. Can't use the B-word here.... Wow. Just, wow. superb characterization as always; I do adore your Celeborn! And I like his young guardsman, who was loathe to even consider sending an arrow at his Lord and Lady.... heh. Kneecap, indeed! Lovely piece of work. Thank you for sharing it! Author Reply: Thanks for the reviews Jasta! Yes, was it Elrond who said 'as long as the Ring is in the world it will be a danger even to the Wise?' And Celeborn has just as much experience of ruling various countries as Galadriel has, and just as much to lose if the Ring goes in the fire. If even Sam was tempted, I didn't see how Celeborn would not be. But I'm glad you can still like him after seeing a glimpse of his dark side ;) The worst thing about Annatar was that initially he was stirring things just for the sake of it - he thought Celeborn was unimportant, but that didn't stop him having a go at ruining Celeborn's marriage, just to see if he could. The B word seems appropriate! Glad you liked it! Hope things are a bit better for you in RL now? | |
| elliska | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 12/7/2004 |
| As usual with your stories I don't know where to begin but since I seem to have some time this morning, I'm going to try to leave a decent one for once. :) A couple things struck me in this: --I loved the line where Celeborn says to Annatar "Better to have her as my ally than my enemy." Yes Celeborn is clever. Great! --That conversation then compared with Celeborn's temptation by the Ring--well done. I loved this internal struggle. Avenge Thingol, restore the Sindar and then that turning around to the Galadriel and Melian comparison and that wakes him up. Brilliant. Celeborn would have to feel that temptation. He obviously never completely forgot what happened in Menegroth. --In that same area but as a separate thought for me was Celeborn's contemplation of Melian not gainsaying Thingol regarding the Silmaril vs Galadriel's 'correction' of Celeborn regarding Gimli. That was very interesting. I always wondered about that too. Because Melian obviously doesn't think it's a good idea but she doesn't speak very strongly against any of Thingol's ideas that she doesn't like. I always wondered why and I always thought Galadriel was an interesting contrast. Celeborn obviously sees that too. --Why did it always come to this? Why was he always condemned to live, when everything he loved was lost? Great line. --Loved Celeborn's 'just in case' preparations and particularly the last lines. Great story. Author Reply: Thanks for the review, Elliska! More than decent - it was great! Yes, C+G is quite an astute political match; she gets a link to his legitimacy as a native ruler, he gets access to her power. I'm sure it would have been easier for Sauron to believe that, than it would for him to comprehend the fact that they actually loved each other. The similarities between Melian and Galadriel are obvious, but I think the differences are very interesting. To be fair to Melian, perhaps Elu was not the sort of man who could take being contradicted in public. He does strike me as being the sort of person who would actually get *more* stubborn for being rebuked. I have sometimes thought that Celeborn and Galadriel were a reduced, but corrected, version of Elu and Melian - not quite as glorious, perhaps, but with some of the faults removed ;) Many thanks again! | |
| daw the minstrel | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 12/7/2004 |
| I had never thought about this, Marnie. Poor Celeborn. You really do convey the difficulty of his choice. As with all of them, he could be acting from good motives but it would turn to ashes in the end. At least he, Celeborn the Wise, knows it. Author Reply: Thanks, Daw! Yes, I'd always known that Celeborn was very stressed when the Company arrived in Lorien, but it took a while before he would trust me with enough information on his dark side to take a guess on why :) Thankfully he *is* far too sensible for that. Glad you liked it. Thanks! | |
| Layangabi | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 12/7/2004 |
| Gah Marn. So you tackle Celeborn and temptation, and cultural resentment, and you do it so believably and so well. Am very pleased he managed to snap out of it, but it's still frightening how he almost falls under its sway, how the ring manages to get into the heart of his resentments and fears. It's wonderful and scary in these circumstances to see him, as always, unfailingly pragmatic. The last lines in particular, are chilling. Yes, I know Celeborn's only being as he always is: brusque and truthful even if it involves a loved one. But in light of Celeborn's ring-induced fury, I can't help feeling that it's the ring still talking somewhere in there: "After all, with the Noldor, the worst so often happened." Author Reply: Thanks for the review, Layangabi! No one seems to consider whether Celeborn might have wanted the Ring, but after a couple of years of writing him I feel sufficiently aquainted with his dark side to take a stab at guessing how he might be tempted. However in love he might have been, he must have known that Galadriel was a potential risk. She had, after all, spent a lifetime in the pursuit of power. It must have seemed like his duty to protect her from that risk, and to protect his land from it. Even if he had to let her face the test for the sake of her own redemption, he didn't have to just sit back if she failed and do nothing about it. As you say, he does seem to me to be too practical a person not to have made some preparation for the worst. | |