Reviews (316)

Author's reply

Oh, I agree, French Pony. The Wizards aren't yet paying attention to how the folk of Dunland and Gondor are beginning to make connections and seeing that as Gandalf tends to come when things are worst they might seek to blame him. That he will one day be known as Gandalf Stormcrow is now set among many men. Elrond is beginning to make the real connections, but is distracted by the needs of the moment, I think. But the Men of Middle Earth aren't stupid, of course.

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Glad you decided to give it a try, Agape. There had to be a reason why the Valar chose not to return to fight again alongside Men and Elves, and considering the devastation left in the wake of their last "visit" this seemed most logical. To have the gods themselves fighting and to then look at the aftermath--Belgeriand sunk beneath the waves and the whole coastline of Middle Earth utterly changed--hopefully they learned from their mistakes. And now Middle Earth begins to sort itself out slowly to what it will know when the final confrontation with Sauron comes....

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Well, even though he's not going to excavate Brandy Hall himself, Modoc's descendants will have the knowledge he found that site seen across the Baranduin a tempting one, leading the Oldbucks one day to head that direction and take the empty lands between the river and the Old Forest for their own. As mosquitoes that carry malaria are more endemic to warmer climes, I suspected that the northern kingdom would experience less of that particular illness than would Gondor; therefore there would probably be another condition Sauron would experiment with and send north once the second wave of mosquitoes were blown eastward rather than westward. And I do think that Sauron and his folk would particularly appreciate how rabies affects people, don't you?

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So glad you do, Shirebound. That there would be a feeling of rightness to the decision to have the Hobbits colonize the Shire just seems likely to me, particularly from Gandalf and Elrond.

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Am so very glad you appreciate it, Linda. Yes, somehow they survived, and apparently in hiding even then. The Creator must have found a lot to love in these small children.

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Yes, the tendency to fume when Saruman is present does frustrate one, doesn't it? And we do need to see also how the Hobbits become what they become in the end, for in many ways they are the charge given to Gandalf even he fails to fully appreciate, as the Creator often keeps His own counsel. And, from a seed planted long before the gift of the Shire is made, and once again Gandalf has done precisely what was needed at the right time to set things in motion for the need that comes. As for underestimating Hobbits--that is too much of a temptation for most folk, I think. A dangerous thing to do, of course--ask the Witch King of Angmar!

Author's reply

It's a terrifically important moment in its way for the manner in which history plays out fourteen hundred-some later, so I think it ought to get some play of its own. And when we're looking at how names develop, how ELSE could the family have earned its name? It had to be some similar situation, I'd think.

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Oh, I agree. And Gandalf was able to pave the way for that land to be granted to a people that would love and nurture it and bring it to fulfillment. Thanks so much for letting me know how much you enjoyed it.

Author's reply

We know the Hobbits did their best to be pacifistic; and I do believe even then they wouldn't kill unless there was no other choice in protecting their own. Frodo experienced prescient dreams, and it's likely this was true in his Took forebears; that there might have been children such as Snowdrop is likely. I know that particularly when I was younger I had my share of prescient dreams, although most were focused on conversations I eventually took part in. Frustrating to have a gift that foretold only a couple truly important happenings, neither of which I could interpet until they happened. The Istari were supposed to be counselors, and evidence is Gandalf worked alongside folks once they were committed. I'm certain he would have primed Argeleb, and am only glad he followed through on it. Oh, dear, your mother is in for another winter of it. Am continuing to pray for her.

Author's reply

Oh, am so glad you like it and find it plausible. And the names would have begun somewhat early, I think. As for the reason WHY for the traditions of red ink for signatures of witnesses and the number seven, well, wouldn't such a situation as this have been THE most clinching reason of all? And once I thought of who would sign the Charter, that bottle of ink was already set to fall off the table for SOME reason. Hadda be! And the three strains start forming hybrids leading to the LOTR-era family traits.

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So glad you do. There had to be some reason why the Hobbits came up with that legal requirement, and what better precedent could there be? Thanks so much for the response.

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As I was seeing the charter prepared that blasted ink bottle just had to hit the floor. And it just seemed so RIGHT. No, folk all too often underestimate Hobbits, to their own sorrow, of course. Hobbits are a people with their own dignity and their own great strengths. And they were well designed by Iluvatar to lull awareness before doing the remarkable.

Author's reply

I thank you, Shirebound. There had to be reasons the Hobbits ended up in the Breelands and then why some wished a land of their own; and why Argeleb II gave them that land. And this is how names have evolved over the years as during estrangements some would change the name but not the meaning and others the pronunciation and/or spelling. And thanks so much for the compliment.

Author's reply

Oh, I love that characterization of Saruman peaking too soon. We know from the appendices and Tale of Years that waves of plagues went through Gondor and Eriador--it's plain Sauron did biological warfare, and ended up having some of it rebounding on his own folk, according to Tolkien. Seemed that these were three possible ways he might have carried it all out. And am so glad you appreciated the Mouth's appearance here. Did give him a Lesser Ring, of course....

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That's the fascination with writing fan-fiction--trying to fill in gaps. And this is such a horrid part of the history of Middle Earth.

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Elf and Wizard have known one another by the time of LOTR almost 2000 years. Is a bit mind-boggling, indeed!

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Oh, it's so satisfying to hear that how I've written something has increased thinking about how things were done or what impact actions might have happened. Thank you, Linda.

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Yes, evil tends to think of things ahead of time, while good sets guards, but often fails to anticipate what evil will do next. Tolkien indicated the plague spread north and west as well as hitting Gondor hard and rebounding on the Enemy's lands within his sphere of influence, and that throughout all lands there was much death and loss. We'll be looking next at how it hit the lands and peoples of Arnor. I agree--Saruman offers innovations that truly help the settles lands, and they end up being used by the Enemy to cause widespread death and destruction. But, then, the Enemy has always been an opportunist.

Author's reply

Thank you for the compliments. I'm always appreciative of suggestions to improve the writing, but I'll let you know now that hackers have made my email capabilities nill for the last few months. It's been very frustrating. You can use the Reader button at the top of the page to indicate you'd like to be notified when a new chapter is added to a story. And once I finally get my email up and running again--if that day ever comes at this point--I'll definitely put you on the list to notify when a new chapter is added.

Author's reply

Yes, all too horrible an idea of how the plagues that killed so many throughout Middle Earth might have happened. Gandalf's words, of course, mirror the Biblical comfort that all things will work to the good for those who love the Lord; even the worst of things can, left in divine hands, be turned around and beget far better results than any might have hoped to see. Gandalf knows his mandate and seeks to be the instrument of that good, and opens himself to the guidance that will bring him to it. But I think you are right, and he, as is true of all truly good souls, is all too often isolated among others who haven't the capacity as yet to fully understand or open themselves similarly.

Author's reply

My mother was reading us things such as "Guns, Germs, and Steel" when we were still in high school; and I remember watching some historical film about the doctor--don't remember whom for certain--who realized at long last how bubonic plague was spread through fleas carried by diseased rats. Also, as I was born in Costa Rica (LONG story) and before they were sent there my parents were stationed in the Canal Zone in Panama, I read books about the digging of the canal and the problems with yellow fever and malaria, and how some of the first uses of insecticides were made there in Panama to keep workers from becoming so ill they could no longer work. Then I found a fascinating study on how sickle-cell anemia, most commonly seen among blacks, has a positive side--malaria parasites are adversely affected by the red blood cells when they take the sickle shape. Obviously I, too, am interested in similar things; and when I tried to imagine how black clouds out of the East could cause plague within Gondor my mind just kept conjuring up images of mosquitoes. And so the story progressed--you already know how I try to work real-world scenarios into my stories. Had Gandalf realized plans for the city were missing, he'd be out trying to find out who took them and for what purpose and then trying to do damage control, while Saruman just shrugs it off and sends a curse to follow those who took them; and in the end it's the horses that suffer, as you indicated. You know the old saying--"There is no honor between thieves." First Regil tries to get the gold back for his own use, and fails; and they he finds his own reward is to be infected first with malaria and then with a form of bubonic plague--NOT his day, is it? And again it is the Grey Pilgrim who is in there truly helping folks. He turns up when trouble is coming; but then he stays to help fight it out. And where is Saruman? Who knows? Oh, good grief! The testing room for examining a breast mass wasn't large enough to accommodate a patient in a wheelchair??? Where are the priorities in that hospital? One of my best friends had a pretty nasty cancerous mass removed a year and a half ago, and is truly doing very well now, but she was awful sick at the time. I've had a mass removed, but it, like your mother's, was benign, as was true as well for my daughter (adopted). Glad your mother fell into our camp, but sorry to hear of the bedsore. Am not certain what Diwali is, but understand that Guy Fawkes Day can be pretty wild. Certainly our dogs hate when the neighbors decide to use their guns on the local coyotes, who have certainly done numbers on my cats. Night before last I could hear the pack east of me yipping together. I'd never dreamed that my state housed such a big population of coyotes as it does. But now and then deer and elk will graze in the back field, and I love watching them.

Author's reply

I thought, well, Tolkien did it in the book and PJ did it in the films--let's go for it here, too. I felt it helped get across the idea that the Mouth has been very long in his master's service; and to have the old informal address be used to indicate the horrors of this ones regard just seemed right. Glaurag's companion didn't get to enjoy his reward; and as I wrote in The Tenant from Staddle, context can completely change meaning.

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Saruman knows what he is good at, but has no idea how to foresee consequences. And, as you've noted, this time they were pretty horrible. Tolkien states that Castamir managed to destroy much of Osgiliath and killed Eldecar's eldest son cruelly, and generally was pretty awful. That many who feared Eldecar would be less than his Dunedain ancestors were shocked to learn that in this case the one of "purer" blood was an intolerant, heartless tyrant who cared less for their customs than the "half-blood" he replaced seems logical. Unfortunately, Tolkien indicates that Eldecar still appears to have favored his northern relatives over many of his own lords, and so in the end he lost the chance to do more good than he could have done. And once Saruman begins to suspect where the third Elven Ring truly is, I suspect he will be wildly jealous.

Author's reply

First time I heard exerpts from Guns, Germs, and Steel (or it might have been a predecessor of the same ilk) was after its first edition was released back in the sixties, with Mom reading it aloud to my sister and me as we washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Now have one of the latest editions; and I've researched a good deal on how the Nazis used disease to cut down on overpopulation in the camps, often intentionally introducing typhus. When one reads of how black clouds were released over Gondor and brought plague with them I had to think, well, how WAS plague spread? Yellow fever, bubonic plague, malaria, so many other conditions can come from biting insects and tainted water supplies, after all. Even if they didn't realize that the fleas were carrying the disease that brought pustules, still the good physicians of Gondor and the King, many of whom were strong in the knowledge and technology and intelligence come from their Dunedain ancestry, undoubtedly made the connection between the spread of the disease and the presence of filthy conditions. In our own world so many assumed that the Jews were practicing germ warfare of some kind that they mistook for witchcraft when the goyim would become ill while the Jews would avoid the condition; having separate quarters for animals, not using thresh but instead carpets that were regularly cleaned, insisting homes be kept as clean as possible as well as persons, careful storage of foodstuffs--all helped stop the spread of plague in the Jewish quarters while the more filth-tolerant Christians would unwittingly spread the disease. It took SO long for someone to finally peg it down to fleas and the rats that predominantly carried them. I don't know how much influence Sauron might have had over microbes and malaria worms, but he could definitely see the connection between infected lice, mosquitoes, ticks, midges, and fleas with the spread of the diseases each could carry even if he didn't understand the specifics of contamination. Multiply the carriers and give them the chance to all become infected by biting infected hosts, and you have automatic germ warfare. I DO try to inject reality into my stories, as I think you know. And I always suspected the Mouth might have carried one of the lesser rings of Sauron's own manufacture, before he realized he hadn't the ability to see them made so most folk would accept them. And so far Saruman is still unwitting of how his carelessness has managed to cause such havoc.

Author's reply

Several of my stories reflect Tolkien's own indications Sauron did use germ warfare. The black clouds that rose in the east and brought plague not only throughout Gondor but also in many cases bounced back to affect Sauron's own pawns and allies were a definite form of germ warfare of some sort. And that he probably used more than one form of such attacks is indicated by the fact that diseases spread north into Eriador and Rhovanion and Eotheod as well as through Gondor and the regions adjacent to Mordor, and all regions experienced drastic losses of population. Had Sauron not infected his own folk along with Gondor he might easily have just sent in his troops in to wipe out the nation in the confusion while so many, and particularly in Gondor's seat of government, were so ill. As for orcs tainting the water supplies on Mount Mindolluin--yes, Men would be less conspicuous, but probably more likely to respond to bites from malarial-infected mosquitoes, and so would be perhaps less effective here. And when so many are so ill, it's easier for such interlopers to pass through unseen, particularly if most of those likely to notice them are suffering chills and fevers that have them huddling in their blanketrolls or possibly delusional. But I do love your scenarios on how our current government would have reacted. Spot on, and not only ludicrous but inefficient and ineffective in the end. We keep trying to secure the door after the horse was stolen and replaced by a large number of very clever rats, after all.