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| The Acceptable Sacrifice by Larner | 22 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/20/2005 |
| Legolas is good with Frodo. He has the patience and understanding - and, being an elf, can take the long view rather better than most. I hope he managed to get his point across, but I suspect Frodo is hearing, but not listening very well at the moment. Author Reply: To truly understand requires feeling somewhat certain of yourself, which Frodo does not--not for his body or his mind. He has a good deal of healing still to do--and we already know how long that took to be complete. For him it will most likely be three steps forward and sometimes one or two back, and a few times four or five, as he struggles along the path of healing. Thanks so much for the feedback, Bodkin. | |
| Tigger | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/20/2005 |
| Oh my...I just want to pick up Frodo and hold him. I can so empathize w/the emotions he's having. I have a kidney transplant and I was given it nearly 13 years ago, but there are times when I wonder why it was given to me. That kind of guilt never really goes away, but you learn to deal w/it. To see Frodo questioning the same things...It really does hit close to home. What really hurts though, is the knowledge Frodo never was able to deal w/it and stay in Middle Earth w/those he loved. This is an excellent story Larner. Looking forward to the next chapter. Author Reply: Aha--another kidney patient, as was my husband. Never got to transplant stage, though. Survival guilt can be so devastating, as is all of post-traumatic stress syndrome. Frodo did his best to live with it all, but was still unable to reintegrate himself into life in the Shire. How much was physical and how much was emotional Tolkien himself, of course, didn't tell us; most of the time after the return to the Shire, save for the Scouring itself, is told so fleetingly, on a strictly superficial level. Frodo gets sick twice a year, and does his best to hide it--or at least he thinks he does. Then he leaves, allowing Sam to think he's going to Rivendell while in reality he's going West. Am so glad you find this so believable and in keeping with your own experience as well as apparently with what you expected of Frodo's. Thanks so much for your comments. | |
| Radbooks | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/20/2005 |
| Loved the fact of Legolas helping Frodo dress and Frodo hating it... we always hate to be helped! Very interesting about the Ring influencing Elrond and him allowing Isildur to leave with the Ring. It is something some of my friends and I have discussed in the past. Why did Elrond let him leave? My thought had always been that Isildur had a free will and Elrond wasn't going to take it by force - Isildur was his distant relative and all. But this is an intriguing thought! Author Reply: I recently saw the idea of Elrond himself being influenced by the Ring to keep him from interfering with Isildur in someone else's discussion of that moment. It was an idea I'd touched on in my mind but not explored deeply. But there had to be some reason why Elrond kept his own hands scrupulously off the Ring beyond mere knowledge of its nature. And if he had felt Its power there in the Sammath Naur paralyzing him so that Isildur could walk out with It in his hand, that would give him excellent reason to speak authoritively of the dangers It posed. And it's hard to accept dependancy so late in life; Frodo, one of the most intelligent and competent Hobbits ever born is having to be dressed like a bairn? It must have been quite a blow to an already fragile ego. | |
| TithenFeredir | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/19/2005 |
| Hmmm, as much as I sympathise with Frodo I think it was good for Legolas to be a little stern with him. It's an intersting idea for "greater" characters to be relieved that Frodo spared them having to take the ring. ~TF Author Reply: In dealing with the Ring, Frodo WAS the greater character; and truly great folk have a good idea of their own limitations and will admit them when it is appropriate as Legolas did here. I think Frodo needed to hear all this, and for him to realize Legolas and the others have reason to believe that he's just as good in his way as the Elven prince is or as Aragorn is. Thanks for staying with the story. | |
| SlightlyTookish | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/19/2005 |
| I really enjoyed the conversation between Frodo and Legolas, especially the discussion about who would have taken the ring next and what would have happened to them. That's exactly what Frodo needs to hear, and how wise of Legolas to know it :) Author Reply: Legolas has been around long enough, I think, to evaluate just how others might have responded to the Ring working on them, once he had personal experience with how it tried to work on him. And, yes, Frodo needs to hear this, and realize there was every reason in the world for him to be the best one to serve as Ringbearer. A Hobbit; no precedent of Sauron dealing with Hobbits in the past save Gollum, who'd already been twisted completely from his original nature by five centuries worth of experience with the Ring; a basically passive individual with no pretensions toward power over others; one with an extraordinarily strong sense of social and personal responsibility, and who'd been turned off the path of exploiting others (in my version of him, at least) years earlier after an encounter with Maggot's dogs and one who apparently was Radagast. He's been groomed to be the Ringbearer, I think, at least since the death of his parents; and in my version was literally born to do so as well. Thanks for the feedback. | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/19/2005 |
| I like this of Legolas telling Frodo what he needs to know. We seldom think of Legolas as having been tempted by the Ring, so it is very interesting to hear what he thinks about that. I also like the way he has kept Frodo talking and listening the whole time, until he has finished the task of dressing him... Author Reply: Yes, Frodo needed to hear this from someone who hasn't been so emotionally involved with him as Gandalf, Sam, and Aragorn; and I think the Ring would have tried working on everyone in the Fellowship at least once in a while. It might have focused primarily on Boromir as the most vulnerable, but I think it would have tried the defenses of all, looking for an easier nut to crack than the Hobbit carrying it. And I agree--keeping Frodo distracted did ease helping him dress when he was still pretty shaky. Thanks, Dreamflower. | |
| Linda Hoyland | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/19/2005 |
| This was a touching scene and I liked how tactful Legolas was towards Frodo,distracting him while he dressed him. Author Reply: Keep him distracted, and we can get a shaky Ringbearer dressed before he has a chance to allow his foolish pride in self-sufficiency get in the way. Glad you appreciated it, Linda. Thanks for the response. | |
| harrowcat | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/19/2005 |
| Oh wise and gentle Legolas. Good to see that he can be sharp and to the point too. We all need to hear the truth, perhaps especially when we least want to. Author Reply: The Ring has kept Frodo very isolated, and he needs to get past that to seeing that others realize perhaps better than he does what things might have come to had someone else tried to carry that foul thing. And, yes, sharp and to the point indeed! :-> Glad you appreciated that, and I appreciate the pun! | |
| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/19/2005 |
| This story is so very insightful and poignant. I hope that -- sooner rather than later -- the gentle, loving, wise counsel around Frodo helps him to understand that he did his best... and that's all anyone can ever do. Author Reply: Unfortunately post-traumatic stress disorder isn't an easy condition to overcome, and there is a distinct physical aspect complicating things. And as Frodo eventually says, he knows in his head the words he hears are true, but getting the heart to accept them isn't as easy. Thanks for the compliments, Shirebound. | |
| French Pony | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/19/2005 |
| I think it's a good idea for Frodo to have this conversation with Legolas. The two of them aren't as personally invested in each other as Frodo is with Aragorn or Gandalf or the other Hobbits. I think that, in a way, Frodo is freer to exchange the truth with Legolas than with the others because of that. Legolas has less of a vested interest in coddling Frodo than the others, and so gives him the cold hard truth about his own weakness before the Ring. I think Frodo really needed to hear that, and Gimli is the only other one who would have told him. Author Reply: Yes, you've expressed it perfectly, French Pony. And you've clarified the realization in my own mind WHY Frodo needed to hear from Legolas now. Legolas is letting him know that he was as vulnerable in his way as Aragorn was, a thought Frodo probably hadn't thought of before, and Frodo can't just wave away his words with "but he's only saying that to make me feel better" as he might with Sam or Aragorn or Gandalf. Thanks so much for your input, as it has further inspired me. | |