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| Beneath a Gibbous Moon by Bodkin | 18 Review(s) |
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| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 3/24/2007 |
| ‘I would have gone with Frodo to the end,’ he said, ‘but, perhaps, this is how I am meant to defend him at the last. ‘We are where we must be – and will do what we must do. Our faith is in Frodo.’ ‘We will play our part to the end,’ Isildur’s heir vowed. ‘Let no weakness of ours expose him to any greater risk than he faces already.’ What a wonderful conversation, and I love that it ended in hope. Author Reply: I think Aragorn would have found it very hard to let someone else take the responsibility - but, having done that, he would wholeheartedly throw himself into offering Frodo the very best chance he could. And it must have been so hard to face that small army, knowing that they had brought them to the Black Gate to die in order to offer a pair of halflings the chance to travel through Mordor unnoticed. Aragorn and the leaders knew it was a diversion, but the men didn't - and couldn't, if the chance offered Frodo was to be real. And thank goodness we know the outcome! It would be ... absolutely awful, to wait through that night, knowing what the dawn would bring. Thank you, shirebound. | |
| MithLuin | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 3/24/2007 |
| A lovely finish to your tryptych! Author Reply: Thank you, MithLuin. I'm glad you liked the series. They were fun to write. | |
| The Karenator | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 3/24/2007 |
| Bodkin! I don't know how I missed these two chapters. I'm so embarrassed. I plead 'over-duties' of the only daughter. And now, I must plead mother duties for a moment. I'll be back later when I can read these chapters properly--because I couldn't stand to wait, I read them quickly--and will leave a real review. Oh...both chapters are so good! I sooooo have something to look forward to later tonight! Thank you! Author Reply: You haven't missed this - look! Here you are! I'm glad you had time for a quick read - there's nothing like a visit to Middle-earth for relieving a bit of real-life pressure - and you're welcome any time! | |
| Envinyatar | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 3/24/2007 |
| This is wonderful, Bodkin. It reminds me very strongly of the opening of 'Tigana' by Guy Gavriel Kay, which is intended as a compliment as that is my all-time favourite night-before-battle scene. I initially thought it was Aragorn at the beginning,particularly from "But he had always known that there was a way – if only he could find it." Very gradually you showed us that it could not be, however the fact that it was not clear shows how clearly you portray the Elvish part of Aragorn. I love the way Legolas conquers his own apprehension through being needed by Aragorn, and how Aragorn gathers strength in order to bring comfort to his own men. The frustration of having to rely on someone else to achieve the real victory is also well shown. Lots of nuances here, I think I shall need to read this story several times to fully appreciate it - which is not exactly going to be a hardship! Beautifully written and breath-taking - thank you for this. Author Reply: I read some Guy Gavriel Kay once - quite a long time ago and I can't remember the titles ... Summer something? ... but not Tigana. I'll look out for it! The night before battle must be atrocious - trying to behave normally while knowing that you are putting your life on the line in a few hours and that the morrow will change everything. Ghastly. I'm glad you weren't sure at the beginning! I hoped it would be ambiguous - after all, there wasn't any doubt who the two characters would be in this episode! Aragorn needed the support of the Firstborn, I think, at this point. Those who could see the bigger picture and who were facing the end of their own time in Middle-earth. I love the way the final battle is actually a diversion from the pursuit of victory - it's very symbolic - but people like Aragorn and Legolas would find it hard, I think, to know that they were trusting in someone else to ... do the business. (I think the 'For Frodo' line - together with Aragorn's expression there - has to be one of my favourite bits of the last movie.) It was more complicated to write than the others, because it needed to fit in with the book and ... the phases of the moon and all sorts of other details! Thank you, Envinyatar. I'm so pleased you enjoyed it. | |
| Lianna | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 3/24/2007 |
| I like this. Legolas is very elfy, but there's also a bit of the movieverse concept that Legolas -- and perhaps also Gimli -- were on informal terms with Aragorn and could be supportive of him in a way that most others could not. It's one of the few movie ideas that I really approve of. Aragorn in the book seems a bit lonely as he approaches the formidable task of being king. Author Reply: Aragorn is very isolated, poor man. By destiny and experience. (I do think he would have found aspects of being king very difficult. Surrounded by sycophants all the time - and being watched. While, on the other hand, he is already accustomed to being separated from others.) I don't go for the Legolas-is-my-best-friend kind of bond between them - but they could well have met, I think, when Aragorn took Gollum to Mirkwood - and I do think there would have been some recognition between the two of them - both the heirs of kings, long bound to fighting the rise of evil. And Aragorn, of course, is used to being with elves - and better able than any other living man to become friends with them. While, of course, they have the shared experience of the Fellowship - and the post-Fellowship activities. I think they would have become close in the way that shared peril builds bonds. (And Legolas did live in Ithilien - and remain in Middle-earth until after Aragorn's death.) So, anyway, I agree that friendship between Aragorn and Legolas was a good outcome of the movies - and it fits the basis of this trio of stories, too! Thank you, Lianna! | |
| meckinock | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 3/24/2007 |
| A wonderfully timely story, Bodkin. Could there ever have been a darker night than that one? You really brought home how men waiting for battle must dread and wish for the dawn, and how their thoughts turn to might-have-beens when they believe their lives can be counted in hours. And the agony that was Aragorn, knowing that not only his own life, but that of all his men, and the Rohirrim, and his beloved friends, and even more, the fate of all the peoples of Middle-earth, and even its trees and flowers, would be at stake with the coming of the dawn, and yet knowing that he must appear beyond doubt and fear to all of them, save perhaps a few trusted friends. How grateful he must have felt to have one such here with him now. I laughed at Aragorn calling Gandalf a gambler, "willing to risk all on a final throw of the bones," though I wonder it was not so much a willingness to risk all, but a simple acceptance that this was the only option which did not absolutely guarantee destruction. I loved his line in The Last Debate - I said this would be prudent. I do not counsel prudence. I said victory could not be achieved through arms. I still hope for victory, though not through arms. Like Legolas said at the end, a tomorrow built on faith. Author Reply: What a night! It's not surprising that the arrival of the dawn is, in many ways, a relief to those whose last night has been haunted by regret for the past and fear of failing their comrades in the day that follows. Not to mention dread of injury and death - and, possibly, when confronting this enemy, fear of surviving when all around you have been killed. And Aragorn - and the other leaders - know this is just a diversion from a hidden battle, but the vast majority there don't and mustn't know it. They have followed him in hope (there's that word again!) and he knows that he has, in all likelihood, brought them here to die against an insuperable force. Such courage! Legolas, the twins, Gandalf - they must have provided him with the understanding that helped him face his army calmly and encourage them to follow him. Gimli and Pippin - members of the Fellowship, yes - but he didn't know them as well and Pippin is young enough to need to have his courage bolstered. I think Gandalf was prepared to risk all - he knew that caution here would only lead to - well, another phrase that keeps cropping up - a longer defeat. He knows, as Aragorn does, that victory is not in their hands. And it is so good to see, actually, that it isn't the might of the warrior or the wisdom of the great that achieves success against evil - but the everyman. The strength of the insignificant, working together through a deep (and entirely non-physical!!) love that brings two small people to the place where qualities like love and mercy and trust and faith can overcome power. And hope. Always hope - the shining light in this Pandora's box of suffering. Thanks, meckinock. And sorry for wittering. | |
| Jay of Lasgalen | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 3/24/2007 |
| A tomorrow built on Hope as well. Poor Aragorn is so despondent - knowing there is such a very slim chance of any of them surviving, and knowing that he brought them all here. He's right, it takes a special kind of courage to face almost certain death against such odds. Legolas is very elvish here - so calm and accepting, at peace with whatever will happen despite his regrets and might-have beens. It would be good to have someone like that at your side, I think. Author Reply: Oh yes - a series where playing on the meanings of hope has offered lots of potential! It must have been a horrible night - as much of a test, in a way, as the day that followed. The warriors waiting round those small fires followed him there - they don't know that they are a diversion - and all the leaders must have been aware that the chances of surviving the day were negligible. Legolas is able to take a longer view, I suppose, and maybe greater experience leads to greater acceptance. Or maybe it is just that the movement of the pieces on the chessboard have attained a certain inevitability. It would be good to have his support - and that of Gandalf and the twins. They, at least, are a group of people who are not looking to Aragorn for the answers - they are playing out a game started long before his birth. Their presence must have comforted Aragorn and given him people to whom he could turn. And thank goodness we know the outcome! Thank you, Jay. | |
| utfrog98 | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 3/24/2007 |
| That was the best night-before-battle story I ever read. Beautifully written. It would be a terrible cliff-hanger if I did not know the ending. Lovely, lovely was to start my day. Thank you. Author Reply: Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked it. It must have been such a dark night - so long, and yet with all those there dreading the dawn. Thank goodness we know the outcome! And that those whom we feel we know survived the day to build a new and better world. | |