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| Arwen's Heart by Bodkin | 214 Review(s) |
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| Redheredh | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 4/3/2005 |
| Another great story. How do you keep them coming? I am thrilled that you gave credit to Arwen's wisdom as well as her perception. Whether you intended it or not, you have reinforced my opinion that timing is everything in free will - and fate. When Arwen met Estel the first time, she did not fall in love with the youth, but later with the mature man, respectfully garbed by Galadriel herself. So perhaps there was another reason Arwen was sent to spend Estel's childhood in Lothlorien. Elrond, if not Gilrean, might have been relieved that, if they had not dodged the arrow completly, had only been nicked when Arwen laughed at the boy's inevitable infatuation. Something that would not have happened if Arwen had not decided to return and face her fate. How ironic on both accounts! Aragorn almost does not have to hear Elrond's words that he has no time for love, his destiny being so demanding. No Findulas or Eowyn would ever capture his heart's yearning like Arwen. By the time he came to Lothlorien, he was better able to understand his attraction to Arwen. Maybe Galadriel thought the possiblity of their doom had passed instead of knowing it had finally reached reality. No, she probably just wanted the moment to be a shining memory. And Arwen, perhaps thinking her earlier sonjour had turned out to be needless caution, taken by surprise as Estel once was. No son of Thranduil or Amdir had ever captured her spirit's yearning like Aragorn. I like to think everyone in the know was sure it would be a quick realization when it did happen. Elu's heirs tending to be like that. Elrohir and Elladan just contemplating pulling pranks again was comforting. Nice to attribute some of their recovery to Estel's presence. Arwen's own maturity is sometimes forgotten. Her saying it was not enough. But, you helped the reader see this very clearly through Celeborn's eyes. Such a good story. Thanks for sharing it. Author Reply: I do feel that, if Arwen had been in Imladris when Aragorn and Gilraen arrived, and she had bathed him and changed him and taught him his letters, she would have had great difficulty in falling in love with him. The cradle-snatching would have seemed even worse than it did when she thought about being two and a half thousand years older than him. And he (whilst finding her beautiful) would have had difficulty feeling romantic about someone who had been a mother-substitute and who had doubtless been rather scathing about some of his youthful escapades. Keeping them apart might have been intended to prevent any romance - but it also made romance more likely. Elrohir and Elladan had spent a lot of years fighting at the side of the Dunedain - but there is something about being the protectors of a small and unhappy child. Estel slipped into their hearts - and his presence was healing for them. But I think they might have been more able to resist him if they had realised what fate intended for him and their sister. | |
| elliska | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 4/3/2005 |
| Gosh Bodkin! How do you do all these stories at once. It would be one thing if you didn't regularly update them, but you do! I just don't see how you do it! This one loos great to. This is a great topic with a lot of potential. You have already hit on a lot of it here. Watching Arwen spar with Celeborn and Galadriel is just great. She does a great job of managing them while not being led herself. Of course, being who she is, she would be able to. But you portray it so well. And the twins' plan to tease their grandparents was just evil. It would have been fun to see that done but Arwen's response is more realistic/what one would expect of her (but it still would have been fun). And I like the way you describe the twins as set on scouring Arda of all evil but then softened by the appearance of Estel. I have always thought of it that way too. Love your insights/analysis into/of canon, such as: It would be ironic,’ she allowed, ‘if, in the end, it turns out to be the results of my love for your daeradar that change the world, rather than my use of power and If we learned anything from Lúthien’s fate,’ she added softly, ‘surely it is that there are times when any action can only make things worse. And I loved the idea of Arwen and Celeborn having 'their tree.' And that conversation she had with him in it! She is lucky he didn't fall out of the tree. Poor Celeborn. He really goes through a lot. Such a good daeradar! Looking forward to the updates on this one. Author Reply: I admit - too many stories at once. But they just insist on starting - this one has been developing for a while, but hasn't yet moved beyond this chapter. Arwen often seems a bit wishy-washy - but she was much more than an elleth lying around on a sofa moping about her love. She was Galadriel's granddaughter after all - and the descendant of tough cookies like Celebrian, Elwing, Luthien and Idril. Not to mention her male kin. And she's spent quite a large proportion of the last five hundred years taking training from Galadriel. (Aragorn might have chickened out of the relationship if he had only considered it for a while.) I'm not entirely sure that the twins didn't attempt to carry through with their plot - but it would take more than that to fool C and G. (They might have gone along with the game, though, just for the pleasure of seeing the twins having fun.) The twins were better than they had been, but Estel speeded up the process. He managed to get under their guard, in the way that helpless little creatures can. I can't think of any other reason why this one heir of Isildur would come to mean so much to them. And I do think it was Galadriel's love for Celeborn that made the difference in the end - and stopped her meeting the fate of all the other Noldor princes. Poor Celeborn, indeed. He lost so many of those he loved - which is why he must have gone to join Galadriel - and Celebrian - in the end. | |
| Dot | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 4/3/2005 |
| This looks great, Bodkin! I love your depiction of Arwen. She has the wisdom of her age and her bloodline, a love and devotion to her family that is very touching, and an acceptance of fate that should be an example to us all. Her grandparents clearly weren’t counting on her perception. It must have been so difficult for Galadriel, to know something of what was to come, yet to never be sure and to choose this sheltering and protection of Arwen as the way to show her love. I think I felt worse for Celeborn, though. He comes across as such a grandfather in this, a grandfather who would protect Arwen from anything that was within his power to do so. How helpless he must feel sometimes in the face of visions and feelings, things that must be interpreted without the promise of a definite outcome. I’m so glad that Elladan and Elrohir seem to be emerging from the “diamond-hard shell of ice”. You’ve painted such a heart-breaking picture of Celebrían’s family after her suffering and departure. They all seemed to find a way to come through it, be it with the strength of friends or the nurturing and protection of an adult grandchild and it seems that young Aragorn now is working some magic with Elladan and Elrohir. The twins must be somewhat torn too, between wanting their sister back and trusting that their grandparents and father know best. I’m still laughing at the little plan they were concocting – that would have been fun! My favourite part of this chapter was the scene between Celeborn and Arwen. The closeness between them is lovely to see, but there’s a sense of sadness too because the great love between them means that Arwen’s future will bring such sorrow to her grandfather. ‘I will never sail,’ she shrugged. ‘I have long known it – and so did Naneth. She told me before she left that what she regretted most was that she would never see my children.’ I actually really like that idea. The acceptance and strength of Arwen and her mother is humbling to see and it also explains why the knowledge that she would never again see her mother didn’t keep her from making her choice to give herself to Aragorn. Anyway, I’d be here all night if I picked out every detail of this that I loved. It would have been perfect even if you had left it here but I’m so glad there’s going to be more. :-) Author Reply: Like most grandparents, C and G still think of Arwen as a kid - after all she's only around 2700. They don't want her making irrevocable decisions - that's their job. Celeborn sees a lot of Luthien in Arwen, I think - and the thought of losing her to the same fate tears him apart. He lost Luthien to death and Celebrian to torment and the Undying Lands - he knows that he is likely to lose Galadriel, and he doesn't want to abandon the fight to save Arwen and just let events take their course. Galadriel is, I think, a little more fatalistic and knows enough about her visions to realise that deliberate action cannot change things. The twins have been recovering slowly - they are no longer as driven to exterminate orcs as they were, but they have been - well, guarded. Aragorn has slipped beneath their defences and given them a three-dimensional person to protect and guide. I'm not sure they didn't go a bit further with their plan - but C and G are not easy to fool, (although they might have let them have some fun here - they could do with it). Foresight is a gift (curse?) of both sides of Arwen's family - and I think that, close to death as she was, Celebrian would have had a clear sight of things hidden to others. And maybe she was granted the chance to bid Arwen a proper goodbye. It was going to be a single chapter - until I noticed the date. I don't think it will go as far as the time of the quest, but there should be more. | |
| Jay of Lasgalen | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 4/3/2005 |
| This has the hallmarks of a great story. I love Arwen's perception - she knows perfectly well that she is being kept away, and has made an astute guess at the reason. Her relationships with the males in her life are wonderful - with the brothers, and her grandfather. I always find Galdriel a little intimidating, though. The twins' plot to pretend to abduct their sister was great - I would have loved to have seen that! They are finally coming out of their 'diamond-hard shell of ice'. What an evocative, sad, image of them. Jay Author Reply: All her male relations want to protect her and keep her safe - and ironically, it is the one thing they cannot do. They can keep her away from orcs and battles - but she is, in a way, the elves' final sacrifice and there's not a thing they can do about it. It must be difficult for Galadriel - she lives in two worlds, really - the present and the possible. I don't know how she would have coped without Celeborn to hold her solidly in the real world. But Arwen is her granddaughter - and she has elements of Galadriel in her. I think she would be one person among the few whom Galadriel did not - could not intimidate. I rather liked the twins' plot. I'm not entirely sure they didn't play it out to a degree - although I don't think they would have fooled G and C for a moment (which would have been a dreadful disappointment to them). But I wouldn't have wanted to be Arwen, living with their grandparents after a scheme like that, so I reckon she put her foot down. | |