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Arwen's Heart by Bodkin	214 Review(s)
jules	Reviewed Chapter: 14 on 4/4/2006
I’m going to start this review with a confession – if I am feeling even remotely depressed or tired or upset with the world, reading the Tale of A&A in the appendices moves me to tears. Embarrassing but true. I didn’t go quite so soppy over chapter 14, but I suspect that’s only because we have had longer to work up to it! Aragorn’s unresolved guilt over Arwen is unbearably sad – he would be quite prepared to accept his end, if not for the pain it will cause his beloved. Arwen’s grief is very realistically portrayed, the sense of immediate loathing for Aragorn’s city now that he is no longer there to make it liveable for her, the need to get away, but the ever present demands of duty that force her to stay, at least for a while. I like the way Arwen comes to terms with the Gift – that she recognises it as a liberation rather than something to be feared, and that her last days are spent in joy (a celebration of her life?) rather than despair. It seems right that Glorfindel comes closest to understanding what is happening to Arwen, although he’s still underestimating her if he thinks she’s oblivious to the protection detail lingering on the fringes. Curaniel sums Arwen’s life up well for Celebrian – a story of love and deep contentment. Author Reply: There are literary moments that are natural tear-jerkers. A&A, Beth in Little Women, a poem called Beaucourt Revisited. Those are three of mine! Aragorn has spent a century thinking he has dealt with his guilt - only to find that now he is going to have to leave Arwen, he wishes he could give her back what they accepted as the price for their love. Not that it would work - and he would actually be condemning her to an unhappier fate. Grief - is odd. In a way it is a cessation of living anyway. Arwen is still an elf - and the sundering of the bond she has with Aragorn is going to affect her very powerfully. She can survive bodily in the White City for a while, but mentally she has already left, I think, before her children are willing to accept her departure. She stays for them - until they can accept her loss. The hiatus is the court mourning period - about three months - until the new king is crowned and life starts moving again. Arwen approached the Gift with openness, I think, and that is what makes it a joyful time. She is thankful for what she has had and embraces the world, while seeing the Gift is just a step to a world of new experience. Glorfindel understands it best, but her brothers and grandfather cannot but be affected by her mood and it makes her last months far less painful than they could have been. (She must have known they would never leave her. But she needed the silence, I think.) A short marriage - for an elf - but crammed with all the experience and happiness that a mother could wish for her child. And, in the end, a belief that she was going to be rejoined with the one she loved.

jules	Reviewed Chapter: 13 on 4/4/2006
The scene between Aragorn and Elrond was very poignant – Aragorn’s guilt, Elrond’s contemplation of the choices made by himself and Elros, and his rationalisation of Arwen as an adventurer like her (paternal) daeradar. Mind you, her other daeradar is pretty impressive too, determined to stick around in case he’s needed, and lobbying for deferral of ‘the choice’ for the twins as well. Interesting too that for all Mithrandir’s initial objections, he has to concede that he’s not all that unhappy with the outcome. Wonderful glimpses into A&A’s married life, poor Aragorn trying rather half-heartedly to be mindful of Gondorian propriety before he remembers that the kingship was the means to the end, not the end itself... Then Arwen & Legolas conspiring to remind him of the same thing a few years later. Lovely parting between Arwen & Elrond – sad but not maudlin, Elrond very much the reassuring father being brave for his child. But despite Elrond’s advice it seems A&A haven’t made much progress on coming to terms with the Gift. Perhaps Faramir’s words, coming years later but eerily reminiscent, will make more of a connection. Author Reply: Aragorn and Elrond love each other as father and son - and yet Aragorn is taking Elrond's daughter. For ever, too. I think Elrond has come to terms with it probably better than Aragorn - and seeing her as Earendil's granddaughter probably helped. Celeborn was never going to leave Middle-earth while Arwen might need him - and he knows the twins have decided to stay by her, too. He would think ahead to - er - requesting that, since Arwen has accepted the destiny laid on her, the twins should be given time, so that they could support her and yet sail in their own time. He would not want Celebrian to lose all her children. Mithrandir probably agrees anyway. Arwen is undoubtedly better equipped for the tedium of ruling - and has spent long enough under the eyes of guards and courtiers to know that the only way to be happy is to learn how to ignore them when it suits you. She will help Aragorn learn to endure the burden of the crown - and take time away from it when he can. Beyond the bounds of time is an almost impossible concept for men - but to elves? Elrond has been around for over two ages. Galadriel is - what - 8000 or so? To them the division is painful and they will never be reunited in this world - but Elrond, of all people, must have developed a philosophy that saw him reunited, in time, with Elros. And neither Elrond nor Arwen would have wanted to make the parting harder on the other. Aragorn and Arwen would have avoided the thought of the Gift for their first decades, I think. They would both have felt guilty about it. Faramir is definitely the best person to help Arwen understand. He has such depth - and can see further into a brick wall than most. By this time, he has seen Eowyn die and his own grasp on life is tenuous - I think Arwen will have found it easier to take instruction from him. 120 year together. Such a long time for a man. Such a passing moment for an elf.

jules	Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 4/4/2006
This chapter is a real testament to Arwen’s strength. Even while she’s having a temporary crisis of faith, its not her faith in Aragorn, or her love for him that is shaken, nor is she wallowing in self-pity about her own situation, being betrothed to a man who has just headed off on an apparently suicidal mission. No, Arwen is only worried that she hasn’t helped her man enough, or has given him another burden to carry. Good thing Elrond was there to set her straight, and his assessment of her value to Aragorn was lovely and very true. The scenes of the Fellowship in Lorien through Curaniel’s eyes are very powerful, and it is interesting to see that Curaniel has become much more worldly-wise, without ever having left the Golden Wood. It wasn’t just Arwen preparing for the future, Galadriel’s preparations in grooming Curaniel for her future role have also paid off. I liked the way you handled the summoning of the dunedain, I’ve always regretted that Tolkien didn’t show this episode, and the dunedain with Aragorn, in a little more detail. (Particularly Halbarad, the poor guy was obviously one of Aragorn’s nearest and dearest, but he only scores a couple of lines, and his death is only mentioned in passing.) Your take on the moment of the ring’s destruction, and Arwen’s role watching over Elrond, was also very interesting. I bet Glorfindel never thinks of her as a fragile little flower again. Author Reply: Arwen is strong - and wise. Which is probably what Aragorn really needed - just as he needed someone who could wait and trust him and offer wordless support across the miles. Elrond was not (unsurprisingly) desperately keen for his daughter to sacrifice her immortality for Aragorn - but he does understand, better than any, just how important she is in maintaining Aragorn's inspiration and bolstering his resilience. And waiting to marry is part of that - I don't think Aragorn could have worked single-mindedly for the 'ultimate good of mankind' if he had been happily married to Arwen and producing little Dunedain. Galadriel knows that if Curaniel is going to support Arwen, she needs to know more of the outside world and has been educating her. The Fellowship must have been strange birds of passage in Lothlorien, though. Much odder than they were in Rivendell. The gaps Tolkien didn't show are wonderful fodder to those who enjoy filling them in, though - and the preparation of the Grey Company is among them - as is Halbarad. The Ring's destruction must have had an effect beyond the Black Gate - and the worry about the three elven rings suggests that Elrond and Galadriel might well have been affected, one way or another. I'm quite curious to know what Gandalf felt at that moment, actually. And Glorfindel will always think of Arwen as his delicate and beautiful surrogate daughter - to be protected. Male relatives, whether by blood or love, are very good at closing their eyes to things they don't want to see in their fragile little flowers!

jules	Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 4/1/2006
I like the way you handled Arwen’s connection with Aragorn. You show the depth of Arwen’s strength and love, that she is able to comfort and inspire and support him even when they are far apart, but you also show Aragorn’s character perfectly - his determination to shield her from the harsh realities of his life, until exhaustion and near despair take the matter out of his hands. Their reunion is lovely, the intimacy, the way so much is conveyed without words. But the days do indeed grow short. Author Reply: I do think he needed her and depended on her love to bolster him at times. And yet their link cannot have been too complete, or he would have had her in his head at all times. Aragorn would want to shield her - he would definitely be the sort to admire the woman-on-a-pedestal - and would certainly sacrifice himself to keep her safe. (Elrond has no doubts of that, I am sure!) And I am sure that their familiarity with each other has grown remarkably deep - and that there is no question of their love for each other. So many years past - and so few months ahead.

jules	Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 4/1/2006
Gilraen’s assessment of the difference between men and elves was interesting, the need of the edain to strive in hope and then hand the fight on to the next generation. But her acceptance that she has now effectively played her part is quite breathtakingly sad. She has endured until now to give Aragorn the sort of unqualified love and support he needed, but now Arwen has taken on that role and she feels free to leave. It’s one of the points that I can never quite forgive Tolkien for – Gilraen’s entire life was just a means to an end, he could at least have let her hang around to see the happy ending. It seems Arwen has had enough of being silently courageous – her little outburst might have shocked the twins into awareness of how their errantries may have affected others (a few centuries too late, probably), but poor Aragorn has no idea what’s going on! I really felt for Aragorn in this chapter – he must feel so impossibly torn. Gandalf all but blackmails him into going off alone on yet another seemingly hopeless mission in the name of ‘duty’, but what about his duty to his family and the dunedain? Gilraen seems to accept that family comes second, but there must have been many times when Aragorn wished he was just a normal man without the weight of destiny and duty hanging over him. His final parting from Gilraen is heartbreaking. Author Reply: I can see the literary neatness of not wanting a mother hanging around to deal with - but it does seem desperately unfair that Gilraen should sacrifice so much and yet not live to know that her son achieved the impossible and lived happily with Arwen for 120 years. I doubt Arwen is always silently courageous - I reckon she must have given her brothers some serious stick when they were younger! But in the post-Celebrian years I doubt anybody was able to say anything that helped and she might have got into the habit of being tactful and discreet. But there are times when a little foot-stomping is far more effective! Aragorn had a hideously tough time really - trying to be all things to all men. Heir of Isildur, chieftain of the Dunedain, Elrond's foster-son, Mithrandir's protege - not to mention Thengel's Rider and Ecthelion's Thorongil - he never seemed to get enough time to do anything thoroughly. And this is a particularly dirty duty. I'm glad you found his parting from his mother to be heartbreaking - she deserved more, but was prepared to sacrifice it all for her son. I suppose at least she knows that he has Arwen - and that Arwen, as an elf, can wait indefinitely and unchanged for whatever time Aragorn can given her.

jules	Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 4/1/2006
This is a very emotional chapter, no matter that everyone (except for Aragorn, apparently) knew all along what would happen, everyone still has their issues to work through. I like that your Elrond at least appears to finally accept the inevitable with some grace – I loathe those fanfictions where he all but throws Aragorn out of Imladris, and of course the movie where he practically forces Arwen off to the havens. I thought it was interesting that both Elrond and Gilraen need to know Arwen has not acted out of duty alone, each concerned for their own child. The twins were truly horrible to Aragorn, but as he showed in the opening with Celeborn, he’s not going to be scared off. (oh, and every household should have a Glorfindel.) Author Reply: Elrond loves Aragorn as well as Arwen - but she is his daughter, and it is hard for many fathers to think that anyone is good enough for his little girl. He has seen his brother pass beyond the circles of the world, too, and has more understanding of what she has taken on, at a personal level, than anyone else. And he knows, too, that he will not be able to be there for her - I think he is fully aware that, if Aragorn comes to the kingship, he will have to sail. But Elrond has suffered so much - this is just another demand on him - and he has never failed yet to offer all he can. The twins were horrible to him - but he has grown up as their brother and he is used to them. And, I suspect, he has quite a large streak in him that thinks they are right. But all three of them are prepared to support Arwen in whatever choice she makes. Yes - I can go with every household needing a Glorfindel!

jules	Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 3/31/2006
If I went through everything I love about this chapter, the review would go on forever, but I have to mention Arwen’s methodical preparations for war, Glorfindel as the voice of reason, the ranger’s revelations about the orcs watching E&E. But the scenes with A&A are just lovely. And of course Arwen had to be the one to make the move, because I agree with you entirely – having seen so much of the world and the terrible brevity and fragility of mortal life, there is no way Aragorn would have made any demands of her. I think this is the only version of the betrothal I’ve seen that goes into Arwen’s feelings and motives in any depth. But after starting the chapter with Aragorn’s incredible stoicism and lack of self-pity despite the isolation he has endured his entire life, it’s nice to conclude with him ‘no longer alone’. Author Reply: Arwen is, in my opinion, the reason that Aragorn was able to make a successful transition from wandering-Ranger-heir-of-Isildur to a king able to manage the needs of two divided kingdoms. She has the management experience that he lacks - and the ability to run complex operations without making a big thing of it. Glorfindel is gorgeous - and he is in a perfect position to put forward the sensible viewpoint. The ranger's thoughts just occurred to me as I was writing this and I just thought - yes, the twins would be so obvious. Of course the orcs would be watching them. Aragorn had learnt too much to make any demands of Arwen, no matter how much he loved her - and she might actually have found it quite difficult to overcome his scruples. In fact, she might have had to deal with them more than once! (He had to get past Galadriel to get to Arwen in the first place. But once Daernaneth had approved, he didn't stand much of a chance.) Aragorn needed Arwen desperately from this point on - and I believe he would have failed if he hadn't had her love and trust to bolster his own will.

jules	Reviewed Chapter: 7 on 3/31/2006
I like Celeborn the daeradar. All the rest of the wise now seemed resigned to the fact that Arwen is a sacrificial lamb to the slaughter, but there’s no way he’s just going to accept it quietly. But there’s something slightly disturbing about the way that Arwen herself has accepted her fate – “I will do what I must… And this son of Elros’s line will have his due.” Not sure I like the fact she seems prepared to hand herself to Aragorn out of duty, but maybe (hopefully at least) there’s a bit more going on at a subconscious level – “She spoke his name apparently carelessly, but her tongue caressed the syllables”. I’m choosing to interpret that as her being already at least a bit in love with him, even if she hasn’t admitted it to herself yet. You’ve painted her as so strong and determined (very much how you’d expect given her family tree) so I suppose I can see her accepting that her marriage to Aragorn is quid pro quo for him reclaiming the throne, reuniting the free peoples, saving the world etc etc. The romantic in me doesn’t like it, though. The twins teasing of Aragorn in absentia was fun, but I think they’re secretly jealous they can’t grow beards of their own! Author Reply: Celeborn is rather less accepting of the demands of fate, I think - and more convinced that fate is what you make it. He lost Luthien to Beren - not that he loved her in that way, but she was his cousin and family - he lost Celebrian, and he doesn't want to lose his granddaughter. But I suspect he knows that he isn't onto a winner here. He could fight fate, but not Arwen's desires. Arwen has known this would happen, I think, for a long time. And saving the world isn't always romantic - but her acceptance does mean that she is willing to love him rather than fighting it. She has spent a good few years thinking about him - and he did make a good, if very youthful, first impression on her! And she does want to hear all about him. There can't be anyone better to tell her about him than the twins either - because they love him as a brother and know him better than almost anyone.

jules	Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 3/31/2006
‘I think I might prefer to confront Elrond than come up against the displeasure of Estel’s naneth.” Gilraen really does take charge in this chapter, bringing Aragorn down to (Middle) earth with a thud, then switching to pep-talk mode, then giving Arwen a not so subtle shove back to Lorien and out of Aragorn’s way. I thought there was an interesting parallel here to the opening of ch 1 – beware a woman with an embroidery needle, in Bodkin’s world it means there’s a serious conversation coming up! The most serious of subjects debated behind a façade of utmost gentility and decorum. Meanwhile, poor Aragorn is desperately confused and unhappy, and Gilraen is right, he has had to deal with too much too soon. You do a good job of showing Elrond’s pain too, but personally I can never get over his complete arrogance – the attitude that it is his right to dictate the course of Estel/Aragorn’s life, while at the same time doing all he can to keep Arwen from her own destiny because it doesn’t quite fit his plans for the future. Anyway, having done what he can to prevent them meeting, it has all started to unfold now, and for all his power and influence he can do nothing but watch. Author Reply: I wanted a strong Arwen - but I also wanted a strong Gilraen! She chose to leave her people and raise Aragorn in Rivendell so that he should have the chance to grow up safely and learn to be the man who could be king. I suppose it could be looked on as a wimpish evasion of her responsibilities - but it could also be seen as a very courageous and self-sacrificial thing to do. She committed herself to living alone among an alien race of people, keeping silent about her son's family to protect him. That is endurance. And yet she managed to raise Aragorn to be a man influenced by elves rather than a man who wanted to pretend he was an elf. Women with embroidery needles are to be feared! And I like to think that Gilraen and Arwen understood each other perfectly. And that Gilraen's ability to deal with Arwen as Aragorn's mother is definitely strengthened because Arwen was not there when she arrived as a young widow with an infant son. This must have been a dreadful time for Aragorn - he is still so young to have the bottom ripped out of his world. He no longer knows who he is - or what he has to do. The sight of Arwen - it is almost as if he clings on to it as something between rebellion and a desperate need to have a guiding star. It's not love - not yet, not really. But it is something that will enable him to endure the next years. I don't see Elrond as arrogant. He has been managing these affairs for a long time - at a bit more of a distance, but Aragorn matters to him far more - he is a foster son who has become family. He knows he must let him go - but, to him, Aragorn is a child barely halfway to adulthood. He does not want Arwen to take up this destiny - but you could say that keeping her away from the child Estel actually facilitated their relationship. Could either have loved the other if Arwen had helped Gilraen rear him? Elrond is used to personal sacrifice - but he doesn't want to sacrifice his daughter - and who can blame him for that?

jules	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 3/31/2006
“the silent courage of those who remained behind” – what a tragically apt description of Gilraen for most of her life, and of course it becomes true of Arwen as well. Very interesting meeting between the two women in Aragorn’s life. Aragorn’s reactions to Elrond’s revelations about his identity are very believable - the resentment, anger, feelings of betrayal, followed almost immediately by insecurities and fears of inadequacy, then the sense of loss for a future that might have been of his own making. And as for THE meeting of the age, even from the outset Aragorn seems to realise Arwen had just become the one constant in his life that would help him endure the appalling hardships of his life – as you so neatly describe it, the one whose image would sustain him, and whose lightest word would hold him. Author Reply: There are definite similarities to the roles of Gilraen and Arwen - and it is a role that is actually very typical of women. Eowyn is actually the exception in demanding to take a front-line role - and she had to reject the more usual feminine role that was expected of her. And yet - those who remain behind (which actually includes Elrond in the WotR) have an essential role to perform in making possible the role of the warrior. I read somewhere something along the lines of every front-line soldier requiring 50 people to ensure that he is fully equipped in the field - and many of those 50 people are the women who 'keep the home fires burning'. Can you just imagine being 20 years old and learning that your whole life so far has been - not exactly a lie, but an evasion? I cannot imagine anyone dealing with it well, and it's hardly surprising that Aragorn's reaction is to rush out and fall in love with a dream of perfection. To be Beren to Arwen's Luthien is just the kind of romance to appeal to a boy on the threshold of manhood. (As is ignoring the less romantic and more painful parts of the tale.) Yet he needed that vision to help him endure. Arwen, I think, must have recognised something in him. She had seen a lot of heirs of Isildur - but maybe she saw Beren in this one. She is too old and wise to fall in love with him at first sight - and he is too young and inexperienced to have enough appeal, but I think she felt something in her stir.

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