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| Battle of the Golden Wood by Marnie | 14 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Sulriel | Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 2/27/2004 |
Beautiful and Bittersweet. I'm sorry to see it end. | |
| Nilmandra | Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 2/26/2004 |
| This was a fine, though bittersweet end. They let each other go, that there love would not die. I have hope though, that eventually the sea did call to Celeborn, for I think Tolkien said he did eventually go, didn't he? I hope so - not because Valinor is better than earth, but because the time of the elves did fade, regardless, and I want him to find some happiness again with his kin - a wife and a daughter sundered. Can I believe he waited out the death of his granddaughter and then left with his grandsons? | |
| Coriel | Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 2/26/2004 |
| A very nice ending. :) Though I'm certainly glad I don't have their problems. Mixed marriages will do that, I suppose. :'( But anyway, a very, very nice story altogether. I have a feeling mine won't be half as good if I can ever scrape it together, but oh well; I'm still trying. :) | |
| Bejai | Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 2/26/2004 |
| I knew the end was coming. You've been telling me so, I've been looking forward to it, but oh! Is it bittersweet. I am going to miss this story. You've been working on it, what, a year? Or nearly so? I stumbled upon this fandom just over a year ago. It took me a while to wade through and find the gems -- and this story was one of them. I'd slowly discovered that Celeborn and Galadriel were fascinating, and was looking for someone to tell this tale -- it was a joy to find it. What an end! Finished like it was started -- a conversation between two people. Your story has this very satisfying symmetry to it, like you could fold it in half and see the reflection on the other side. A gentle beginning, a roaring climax, a quiet ending -- and tremendous emotional impact throughout. Taken as a whole, this is just a tremendous masterpiece. Skillfully and articulately done, masterfully crafted. You have done no less than create the definitive picture of both Galadriel and Celeborn -- as separate individuals, as rulers of a realm, as husband and wife, as mighty Eldar. Such a multifaceted piece. And that, of course, is what makes it so valuable. Now the end. As ever, your imagery was stunning. But what I loved most about it this time was that you painted the voice of Middle Earth for us. The sunset and the blooming flowers, the woods and the water. This is the voice that Celeborn hears. This is why he cannot leave. And it creates such a gulf between them. "And other matters of this world of ours, which those who entered it only to fall homesick for Valinor might not find important." Heartbreaking. She hears the sea, he the land. And then you tell us about the places where they overlap, the last, gentle touches. The image I can't get out of my mind is this: the line between the sea and the shore, touching, but of different worlds. You have powerfully drawn the differences between them! The comparison to Aredhel and Eol was unexpected, but apt. Possession and passion become hate. And that would have been precisely their fate if Celeborn had refused to release her. What a brilliant way to put it. Exactly why they parted is a troubling question, and yet again you erase all the unreasonableness and show us that it must be. And this: "I have learned this lesson at least from Eol," sullenly, Celeborn pursued her metaphor where she did not wish it to go, "I will not follow you into a trap from which there is no return." Ooffph. Some cruelty in that, and truth. How very like Celeborn. Likewise, you show us why Celeborn cannot follow. As Galadriel cannot turn back the "death" of the sea, neither can he force it. It had never occurred to me to spin the sea/death metaphor in that direction. "For the call of the sea is like death. We cannot resist it when it comes, but we may not choose the time of it ourselves, cutting short the time we are given here to accomplish whatever task Iluvatar desires of us. I may not take my death into my own hands, not even to follow you." Wow, Marnie. And there we have it. Celeborn cannot follow because it is impossible. And just when I though 'hmm, there is a loophole, here, a possible fallacy in the metaphor, because some people do force their deaths, distasteful though it is,' you address that very thing. "He was too stubborn, too strong to fade from sorrow." He can't do it. Not in death, or fading, or following. It is not in him. This was a perfect chapter, and a perfect end. I feel nearly tongue-tied as a write this review, for I feel like I haven't done it justice. How do I articulate the impact this story had on me? Like fine art, like music, I feel like the best I can do is gesture helplessly, and say "it is just … just … wow." Bravo. | |