mearasrider · 5 November 2006 · Chapter 1: First Impressions
good job!!
Author's reply
Thank you. Glad you liked it!
First Impressions by Bodkin
Reviews (16)
docmon · 11 June 2006 · Chapter 1: First Impressions
great story, bodkin! i really enjoyed seeing aragorn's transition. your descriptions really brought the place to life. I felt cold and bothered with aragorn. it seems this is just how aragorn might have felt upon first stepping out into the world of Men. Well done!
Author's reply
Thank you. Poor Aragorn - this must have been such a tough time in his life. And he's so young. He feels unable to go to the place he thinks of as home, he's in love, he's had the weight of history dumped on him - and he has to go off and become the leader of a people he scarcely knows. I should think, in many ways, he's really envying Halbarad at the moment! Halbarad is so comfortable in his own skin - but he'll look after Aragorn until he's had a chance to mature a bit!
elliska · 7 June 2006 · Chapter 1: First Impressions
This is great. Poor Aragorn. but – he glanced at the broad-shouldered young man – he was fairly certain that he would not be obeyed Hehehe! Yup, probably not. And I imagine Aragorn did have his doubts about how he'd fit into such a different lifestyle. I like the way both he and especially Halbarad come off in this. Great job, Bodkin!
Author's reply
Thank you - it was fun writing a different set of people. And Halbarad is just great: he's so comfortable being himself. Whereas poor Aragorn - apart from the cold - is dangling between two worlds with the 'Hope of Men' tag hanging over him like a sword of Damocles. The world of the Dunedain must seem very shabby compared to Imladris - and the reality of being heirs of Numenor cannot compare to all those stories he's absorbed. It'll get better, of course. Before long, the halls of his kin will seem like luxury in comparison to the hedges and overhangs of Eriador!
Grumpy · 3 June 2006 · Chapter 1: First Impressions
I loved this story. You have written a great Halbarad, at home in his ranger's life, and poor Aragorn missing his home. I like at the end, that Aragorn started to see things in a new light. Also loved, Halbarad telling him to eat up, because of the girl.
Author's reply
Thank you - I'm glad you liked it. Halbarad is very comfortable with the person he is, but Aragorn is a way from recognising the person he is becoming. He will adjust in time - but at the moment he is a stranger in a strange land. Halbarad won't stand any nonsense though ... not when he's been invited to get to know a certain girl a little better!
perelleth · 3 June 2006 · Chapter 1: First Impressions
Wow! I'm always speechless before your descriptions, Bodkin. Halbarad's home seems so real *and* cold, damp and "unhomely house" through the eyes of the poor chieftain! Poor Estel, like first day at boarding school or at summer camp, missing home and Dad and brothers and Glorfindel, and shadowed by Halbadrad, nonetheless! Amusing, despite all, the contrast between the disoriented newcomer and the well at ease, and clearly focused on "other" matters Ranger. Nice beginning for a long friendship... ;-)
Author's reply
I don't imagine that the homes of the Dunedain were that bad - I picture Bree as being decidedly less comfortable. But it's not Imladris. Just as the not-unattractive Dunedain girls are simply not elf-maidens. You made me think of that old 'Hallo mudder, hallo farder, here am I at Camp Granada' song. I think Aragorn, too, will feel better when the sun comes out and he's off playing rangers with the boys. Halbarad is a great character. Really comfortably in his own skin. But then he only has to be himself. He'll be a great support for an Aragorn who barely answers to his own name yet.
Armariel · 3 June 2006 · Chapter 1: First Impressions
Oh, he'll do, indeed! (He'll do ME just fine, heheh;);)) Beautifully evocative rendering of a time and place. Yeah, the transition from Rivendell to his rather, um, rugged surroundings is bound to be a bit rocky. Frumpy mortal girls instead of gorgeous elf-princesses! Plain cooking! No indoor toilets either, I bet;) But, the better to teach him what being a real leader is all about, instead of a cushy life in dreamland!
Author's reply
Thank you. Bit of a big transition. Even without Vilya making Imladris seems even more balmy and pleasant. And the Dunedain girls are tall and grey-eyed and pretty - but they don't compare with Arwen Undomiel, I'm afraid. And the only indoor toilets are also known as chamber pots! It'll take a while to get used to it, I'm afraid.
Linda Hoyland · 2 June 2006 · Chapter 1: First Impressions
Just delightful, I loved this.It seemed exactly how Aragorn would feel when he first joined his own people.I loved Halbarad with his common sense and sound advice.You write Aragorn brilliantly and I hope he will feature in more future stories of yours.
Author's reply
Thank you. Aragorn would have found it tough at first, I have no doubt. Imladris must have been such a contrast to the world outside. Halbarad will make a good and loyal friend over the years - and Aragorn will become accustomed to being a variety of people in one skin. In time!
Larner · 1 June 2006 · Chapter 1: First Impressions
Pulled out of his comfortable, happy life, and drawn to this. Poor Aragorn; and yet Halbarad is right--this is his future; and what he will one day make viable and rich again for those who live the life of the northern Dunedain.
Author's reply
Aragorn must have found this a dreadfully difficult time. He was so young to have to come to terms with all the changes in his life at this time - and I suspect he never really felt at home anywhere after he left Imladris. Yet it won't be long before he comes to appreciate the honesty and devotion to duty of the Dunedain. Certainly not as long as the 70 years it takes him to ascend the throne!
meckinock · 1 June 2006 · Chapter 1: First Impressions
I'm so glad you posted this here! Thank you again. This was such a wonderful surprise. I'd be happy to schedule monthly birthdays if it would get me more weeks like this one has been. He was whole in a way that Aragorn wasn't - the poor kid was too many things to too many people and it's not easy to start your adult life as a legend. I've been reading your reviews and this reply struck me because it's the essence of how I see Halbarad in comparison to Aragorn. I think I enjoy Halbarad so much because he is whole; he is free to be the person he is, not constrained by others' hopes and expectations. And he does feel perfectly at home in this stuffy-but-cold hovel; whereas I agree with you that Aragorn would have trouble feeling completely at home anywhere. I also love Aragorn's very insightful realization that he will someday look back on these days with the same wistfulness that he now looks back on his childhood in Imladris. His understanding of the need for change and adaptation, and his ready acceptance of it, even when he's so utterly miserable (and he is SO miserable, poor boy!) just shows that he is more than just the sum of his DNA, after all. Your descriptions of the Dunedain and their accodomations are just goose-flesh inducing. They really bring home how utterly foreign this place would be to a young man raised in Imladris, where even hunting trips had a warm bath and a fine dinner on china tableware on the other side. The poor Dunedain girls! Of course they're not really as homely as he imagines, but how could they compare to the females he's been looking at all this life (and Mom doesn't count, of course.) Loved the little glimpse of Halbarad's love interest, too. I hope he didn't keep her waiting too long. This was wonderful, Bodkin.
Author's reply
Thank you, Meckinock! I very much enjoyed playing with Halbarad - he had such a straightforward way of looking at things. Duty, responsibility, loyalty - all those things are so much part of him, and he knows exactly who he is. While poor Aragorn is suspended between too many expectations and hasn't yet had the experience to decide who he is at all! He would like to be a hero, but is miserably aware, just now, that he simply doesn't fit it anywhere. The Dunedain girls are actually very pretty! (Most of them.) They're just not Elves. More particularly, they're not Arwen. And, if the only times Aragorn has left Imladris up to now are on hunting expeditions and carefully supervised judged first campaigns, he has probably only rarely encountered old people - or people who are not physically perfect. To sit here, in this draughty, smoky, probably rather dark and cluttered house ... well. It will take him some time - and some very cold, muddy, hungry patrols through wretched lands to make him see this as comfortable. Unfortunately(?) it won't be long before the Shangri-la of Imladris becomes a distant dream and a few nights in a bed and staying among friends will be something to appreciate. Halbarad knows better than to keep the girl waiting. If she's looking in his direction, he'll be there! (And there's another simple pleasure Aragorn could never enjoy!) I'm glad you liked it! It was great fun to play with the Dunedain. They're a great people.
Jay of Lasgalen · 1 June 2006 · Chapter 1: First Impressions
*Sigh* I really haven't been quite with it for reviewing and replying this week. First I missed your last update, and then I was *sure* I'd replied to this on LJ - but I didn't. Sorry :( I really liked this. Poor Aragorn, finding that his new heritage and kin weren't as glorious as he'd been led to believe! Leaky huts, grotty food, girls who are nothing like the beautiful elf maiden he's just fallen in love with, and a cold on top of all that - you have to feel sorry for him. His sense of isolation is very strong too - 'I think in Sindarin' says so much about his mindset. Jay
Author's reply
Thank you. I can just see bright-eyed young Estel in his school room, learning about the Kings of Numenor and the Faithful, the Seven Ships and the White Tree - it would have seemed glorious and exciting and a la King Arthur ... and then he encounters the Dunedain and the Angle and the hard life of farmers coupled with the weight of duty. He would learn to honour them, I think. He is clear-sighted - if painfully young - and would see that they were fulfilling a role of defending the weak and upholding the honour of Isildur's heirs in the way that justifies his own claim to kingship. But just at the moment, while he can still smell Imladris on his clothes, the whole Dunedain lifestyle seems ... ragged. I wonder if he always thought in Sindarin. Or whether the years as Thorongil might have changed that. I think he would always have felt isolated - he never really led a normal Dunedain life for any length of time ... and then he was a hidden outsider disguised as a captain of Gondor ... and chasing around on his own searching for Gollum and so on. I reckon he would have had a major crisis some decade or so into being king, when he wondered if he would be able to cope. Halbarad, on the other hand, knew exactly who he was - and has a deceptively simple way of looking at life. Aragorn must have found him a tremendous reassurance.
RS · 1 June 2006 · Chapter 1: First Impressions
What a rude awakening for the young Aragorn. "These were not the glorious heirs of Numenor...". One can't help but feel that way after living in comfort in Rivendell and finding yourself in what feels like a shack. I'm glad Halbarad set him straight. I love his humour and his patience with Aragorn. So easy going. This is a wonderful piece. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Halbarad's description of life of the Dunedain was so heartfelt that one appreciates their struggle and makes Aragorn's grievances insignificant (Halbarad deserves his fun in the barn!). Aragorn's mood was contagious---from disappoint, displeasure, to understanding and acceptance.
Author's reply
All those history lessons must have made it rather like dreaming of King Arthur - and then finding yourself in the real Middle Ages. Poor Aragorn needs to get beneath the glamour to the gritty reality ... because they are the glorious heirs of Numenor. Their hard lives are part of that - they serve; their chieftain, the people of the northlands, their history, destiny. Aragorn will grow to understanding - and respect - but, just at the moment, he wants to go home. Halbarad is whole and one in the way that Aragorn probably never was. The unfortunate heir of Isildur is suspended between so many worlds - and, from the moment his destiny landed on him (and his love of Arwen), he was never really at home anywhere - at least, not until after the coronation. And after getting on for 70 years as the Wanderer-King-in-exile, settling in the stone prison of Minas Tirith must have been hard.
MaidenofValinor · 1 June 2006 · Chapter 1: First Impressions
*sigh* I love your writing style. You use such vivid details, and your dialogue is brilliant. I like this one, a lot.
Author's reply
Thank you! I loved Meckinock's Halbarad - and this is a nod in his direction. He is confident in who he is in a way that Aragorn could probably never be. The poor kid had just been landed with far too many expectations - and probably never really managed to decided where home was!
shirebound · 1 June 2006 · Chapter 1: First Impressions
That's very realistically written. Can you imagine going from Imladris to the Wild? What a transition, especially if you're still unsure of your identity, and your place in the world.
Author's reply
It must have been such a culture shock for poor Aragorn - and he was only 20! Barely adult, and, however carefully raised for the future that would be his, cosseted and unaware of how life was outside Imladris. He must have needed counselling - and instead got orcs and solitude and mud. It's a wonder he turned out as well as he did!
daw the minstrel · 1 June 2006 · Chapter 1: First Impressions
I loved this on LJ and am happy to see it here. Aragorn is starting his long journey toward being the man for whom many places are home. He has a lot to learn, which isn't always such a fun state to be in.
Author's reply
Poor kid. Wherever he lays his hat is his home. And, at the same time, nowhere is. I sometimes wonder how he coped with the big stone prison of Minas Tirith - and whether he ended up thinking it was all worthwhile. I expect he did - but he had a long time to work for his rewards, and how much really turns out to be as good as we imagine it will? Thank you, daw.
The Karenator · 1 June 2006 · Chapter 1: First Impressions
I'm so glad to see this here. There's so much to like. You always amaze me with your ease of description. And I love your Halbarad. He's pragmatic, but humorous. I agree with Aragorn that Halbarad would have force fed him the stew. There was a lovely lass waiting for Halbarad in the barn and no sprout of a chieftain was going to mess up that opportunity. :>) From a writing perspective, I love the easy voice you gave Halbarad too. He's so comfortable in his own skin, even though he must be close in age to Aragorn. But then, at the moment, Aragorn is a fish out of water. The change from Imladris to the Angle must have been quite a culture shock (and Aragorn was grumpy with a cold--another excellent use of voice) but I very much liked that Aragorn realized that one day he would look back on that night and have the same sort of sentimental feelings about it as he had for Imladris. I just love this story, Bodkin. The ranger birthday bash has been more fun than Christmas.
Author's reply
Thank you. I have to fight the demon of description. Halbarad's great - he's had some terrific outings over the last week! (I love fighting the grumpy Dad Halbarad!) I'm only surprised that Halbarad hung around long enough to get the stew into Aragorn before heading off to the barn. Maybe he was a little more concerned than he let on. Meckinock's Halbarad gives the impression of being very sure of who he is - and I reckon it must have started young ... He was whole in a way that Aragorn wasn't - the poor kid was too many things to too many people and it's not easy to start your adult life as a legend. Aragorn must have ended up looking wistfully back to quite a lot of places and people - and never quite belonging to any of them. I even have my doubts about the King in his high white tower. This has been a fun birthday bash! Now, I wonder who's next?
Nilmandra · 1 June 2006 · Chapter 1: First Impressions
I can only imagine being sick on top of meeting all these people for the first time, and in comparison to what has been 'home', this had to be quite disillusioning. I love Halbarad's cheerfulness and advice. Now its the rangers' turn to teach their young chieftain a thing or too. He'll do. :D
Author's reply
Poor Aragorn is so young at this time - and so much has been piled on top of him. I'm only surprised he coped with it all as well as he did! He must feel exiled - a feeling I suspect returned on several occasions. Halbarad is home - as Aragorn won't be again. Not until Minas Tirith - and possibly not then. Mind you, it'll get better and he'll soon learn a few things about being a Dunedain that don't make it into the Elven histories!