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| Arwen's Heart by Bodkin | 14 Review(s) |
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| Amy | Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 10/5/2005 |
| Oh, dear, I can't seem to stop rereading this chapter! Let me see if I can name whose devotion is shown in this chapter: Glorfindel to Elrond Elladan and Elrohir to Arwen Estel to Arwen Gilraen to Aragorn and to the Dunedain Elrond to Arwen And I forgot to mention earlier how much I like Gilraen cunningly lecturing Aragorn in bed; Glorfindel, Elladan/Elrohir, and Elrond watching the play unfold; and this sentence, which I just went back to find: But Elrond’s face was pale now and his eyes dark, as the shadow of a distant fate came between them. I refuse to think of this as tragedy, despite the heartbreak. Author Reply: Thank you. It's not a tragedy - not in the real definition - but it has a sad inevitability about it. For all they've attempted to keep Arwen away from Imladris over the last couple of decades, there she was, dancing like Luthien in the woods just at the very moment when an emotionally disturbed and disaffected Aragorn was there to see her. And they all love each other - which makes it even harder. I refuse to believe that Elrond rejected Aragorn, or that Elladan and Elrohir chose their sister over their little foster-brother. And they have sixty - nearly seventy years to brood over it. And come to terms with it to the best of their ability - because they do know that this distant fate is one that none of them can avert. | |
| TithenFeredir | Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 10/5/2005 |
| This was wonderfully written. You covered so many things and yet wove it all into the most natural interactions. The setting and all of the characters seem completely real and exactly as they should be. I still love the warmth and familiarity in the elves' conversations. Gilraen seems to have the wisdom of someone who has had a long time to ponder hers and her son's fate. My favorite sentence in this chapter is this: "Darker colours that fitted his mood, scented with the fragrance of endings." Wow. ~TF Author Reply: Thank you. I found this chapter flowed quite easily on from the one before - and it had the advantage of some lovely set pieces that just had to go here. Gilraen has spent eighteen years in Imladris - with Aragorn as the only other non-elf to be there all the time - and she has her own foresight. She has had a lot of time to think about the fate facing them all. And she's just seen some of it in action. No matter what they all tried, Arwen and Aragorn met spot on cue. Both she and Elrond must have felt their hearts sink. I'm glad you liked it. | |
| daw the minstrel | Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 10/5/2005 |
| Glorfindel's observations at the start were touching -- Aragorn pulling away (which seems right for a young man that age) but being capable of dogged loyalty, Elrond in pain, Arwen turning things over in her head and being inscrutable. I assume the song was the Lay of Luthien. And I loved Gilraen, just loved her! She's so often erased from fanfic entirely, but here she's strong and wise, and Aragorn knows better than to cross her. That she enjoyed using his real name is a nice touch. "Guess again." Ha! But she tells him the truth and sends him away even though both things pain her. She's known all along the burden he has to carry but he must still be reeling. Elladan's confusion over grandfathers was good. He's a little arrogant to assume that she has only the elf one. Why do you think Elrond told Aragorn he couldn't marry anyone, not just Arwen? After all, the previous heirs were all married or we wouldn't have Aragorn as the direct descendant. Maybe Elrond knows the day of reckoning is at hand. Or is it this single minded thing you bring up? Glorfindel is always good with the twins. He's very sexy in his automatic authority. :-) Author Reply: Glorfindel, yes. Rather yummy. But helpless in this situation. I think too many people know what the outcomes are likely to be and they are all hurting - and all afraid to say too much. And Aragorn is grown-up in that very young way of young men - all the weight of the world on their shoulders; convinced they know what's going on; certain that all the older people are getting at them; desperate to be accepted - yet making that difficult every time they open their tactless little mouths. Can you imagine Aragorn if he hadn't had Gilraen to keep his feet firmly on the ground and remind him of his humanity and show him that he was of a proud line of worthwhile people? I doubt he would have turned into the man he did. And she must have got such a kick out of having her son back as Aragorn, son of Arathorn. I know - send Aragorn off and push him into the arms of a suitable Dunedain bride and the problem's over! Very few 20 year olds are so single minded that they couldn't be led astray some dark night. Especially if Elrond let certain people know that he wanted Aragorn to be married soon. After all - the leaders of the Dunedain would have been much happier to have Aragorn filling a nursery with little heirs of Isildur in between trips off indulging in derring-do. But maybe Elrond knew that the return of the king came with the price of an elven queen - and his daughter at that. | |
| Amy | Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 10/5/2005 |
| Warm and chilling at the same time. So many points of view handled well. Really marvelous. Author Reply: Thank you. This chapter was, I found, really easy to write - the template was so beautifully laid out! The next, on the other hand . . . | |