Agape4Gondor
· 17 November 2006
· Chapter 9999: A Question Answered
Ahhhhhh
Excellent tale. Thank you so much for sharing it. *wipes tears from her eyes*
Poor Aragorn - the scornful looks...
And Merry - wise Merry and understanding Frodo and little Pip
Gandalf should have hope - a wonderful group
Author's reply
Most races in Middle-earth seem to have been resolutely monogamous - but I can't see men refusing to remarry. Especially when the future of their houses required them to have sons. And the security of their children required widows to find providers.
But the hobbits are naturally sympathetic, I think. And sensitive to mood. Boromir always seems rather an outsider in the group - and an increase in understanding would certainly help them all to bond.
perelleth
· 17 November 2006
· Chapter 9999: A Question Answered
A deep scar indeed, from beginning to end, and to all those involved. How sad.
"The eyes of hobbits, dwarf and elf fixed on him with varying degrees of disbelief." This made me laugh. Good point, poor Aragorn! Cross-cultural fellowships can be very tricksy at times!
Author's reply
Most other species seem to have been determinedly monogamous - I daresay they found Men to be more than a little morally loose at times!
And poor Boromir! It will have left him badly hurt - and probably even more determine to protect Gondor, if anything, than he was before.
Linda Hoyland
· 17 November 2006
· Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
This is so heartrending,I guessed something like this would happen but it was still a shock.Emeldis' foreshadows Faramir's near death by burning. I alwaysimagine that Finduilis did die of some sadly common tragic disease,
YOu capture the fever ridden city brilliantly.
Author's reply
So sad. But inevitable, I'm afraid. Boromir was never going to be allowed to have a happy marriage and a quiverful of children.
I'm glad you found the fever-ridden city effective. Minas Tirith must have been vulnerable to epidemics - and disease is a silent enemy. While Finduilas's death, I reckon, was something that Denethor would want to suppress - whatever his faults, I think he loved her dearly and put her on a pedestal. She couldn't die of any mundane illness, not as far as he was concerned.
meckinock
· 16 November 2006
· Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
His son should have lived to run free in the gardens of the Citadel, to ride over the Pelennor, to play in the sands of Dol Amroth – grown to be a true heir of his house, a son of the line of Mardil, holding Gondor staunchly against the shadow of Mordor.
But it was not to be.
There's nothing sadder than a future lost. Wow, Bodkin, this is just devastating. I can't imagine it was easy for Boromir to get past this, but I'd sure like to see it.
Author's reply
Poor Boromir. Poor child - and his mother. I think Boromir would have felt very bad about his failure to protect them against an enemy he couldn't fight. Might even have made him more vulnerable to the Ring's seduction, in a way.
There's just a short epilogue - I'm afraid Boromir has to recover with just the help of his kin. And his duty, of course.
harrowcat
· 16 November 2006
· Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
This is so sad! But very plausable! Do we get to hear Pippin's reaction? Great Bodkin.
Author's reply
It is sad. Glad you enjoyed it. I thought that Denethor was very likely to have wanted to secure the succession - until matters grew too distracting. And poor Boromir grew to love a wife and child he was bound to lose.
There is a short epilogue!
SlightlyTookish
· 15 November 2006
· Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
This is a lovely story, Bodkin. Very sad, but very lovely. I like seeing this version of Boromir for a change.
Author's reply
Thank you. It is a sad story - couldn't be happy, really. But I liked Boromir the husband and father-to-be. And I hope he sees them again sometime.
Dreamflower
· 15 November 2006
· Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
So very sad, and yet it had to be. It was not Boromir's destiny to be a happy husband and father. And he would have been good at it, too, I think, for his heart was a large one, in spite of his warrior's calling.
Such a hard thing for him, to realize there was no way he could protect his wife and son from an unseen enemy--one that could not be fought with sword or bow or even bare hands.
And that last sentence was perfect: no, he never came there again, not even in his own death...
Author's reply
No, he never came there again. Poor Boromir. In some ways the elven boat seems a better end for a man of action like him than a stone tomb - but he deserved more. He wished to protect - and it led to his learning to love his wife, but I don't think it took any effort for him to love the child.
Enemies he couldn't see and couldn't fight. Disease - and the temptation of a hope for Gondor's survival.
Armariel
· 15 November 2006
· Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
Really beautiful, sad and sweet and believable. Poor Boromir and poor Emeldis and poor baby...I hope they will meet in the hereafter!
Wonderful use of detail throughout. ‘He talks to him,’ she confided, ‘and he likes to rest with his hand on my belly singing to the baby songs that he said his mother used to sing to Faramir.’
*sniff* I love a good tearjerker!!
Author's reply
It had to be sad - Boromir wasn't a proud father. I, too, hope that they will be together in whatever afterlife they face together.
And I loved the thought of Boromir singing and talking to his unborn child.
Agape4Gondor
· 15 November 2006
· Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
Very glad you wrote this. Great moments -
The bath; Emeldis' crabbiness and Boromir's trying to understand/help; Boromir's remembrance of the hammock and trying to figure out how to help his wife be more comfortable; the story of Finduilas' death and Ioreth's defense of her Lady; Almiriel's presence (fate was kind in this for Emeldis); the disease; Boromir's inability to protect those he loved; Imrahil; and finally - Rath Dinen.
Some laughter - The fact that nothing was thrown away...
MY FAVORITE - 'He talks to him' - incredibly telling of Boromir's new-found attachment to his heir and to Emeldis.
Thank you!
Author's reply
I think Boromir softened toward Emeldis as he came to see her as in his protection - and felt he had let her down when he had promised to look after her. He would have made a good father - and been much loved by his son.
Thank you for picking out the moments you liked. I enjoyed picturing Boromir with his head resting on Emeldis's belly as he talked to his son. Happy moments in a hard (if privileged) life.
perelleth
· 15 November 2006
· Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
Look at that, how the circle comes round! So many efforts, such a struggle and "waste" of illusion and feeling, to come back to the starting point: heirless and all of them carrying another painful wound. Curious, how things come out at times, no matter how hard we try.
I liked very much the way you introduced illness in Minas Tirith. "No-one noticed its arrival" I loved that device. The illness was embodied, disguised,treacherous, but it *was* as well the people who were sick and to whom no-one paid attention in the hustle bustle... I really liked it.
And I cannot help thinking that, had this happened indeed, it would have been another bending blow to poor Denethor, that all his toils were turned to dust by the enemy.
A sad but curious tale.
Author's reply
An inevitable loss really - the Boromir of the Fellowship wasn't a husband and father - but sad. I have a sneaking feeling Denethor would have wanted heirs of his blood and training to complicate the arrival of any pretender from the north - he would have preferred dissension to defeat, but then he grew too dependent on the Palantir to think much about the mundane.
Minas Tirith must have been vulnerable to illness - and disease does come creeping silently on a breath. And didn't Sauron use illness to weaken his opponents or am I imagining that?
Hard times - and growing harder.
Larner
· 15 November 2006
· Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
Quite a proper ending, I think--the brief reminder that even in death Boromir son of Denethor did not return to lie by the wife so briefly known, the son he never saw. Instead the Sea accepted him at the last, and Ulmo saw to the disposition of his body.
Alas that only in sad memory and imagination could he hold the wife so unexpected and loved not as much as yet as either deserved.
Beautiful story, Bodkin.
Author's reply
Boromir and Emeldis were, I think, growing to love and trust each other - and both took delight in the growth of their child (although Emeldis was undoubtedly fractious and nervous!) And it would have been a great affront to Boromir that he was unable to protect his wife and child against an enemy he could not see. He didn't return to the cold stone of the Silent Street - and his end was probably more suited to the man he was.
He would have made a good father, though. I think his relationship with the hobbits (and his brother) shows that.
Thank you.
Larner
· 15 November 2006
· Chapter 1: Ensuring the Succession
Even without the true comfort of undoubted love, yet the gift is given them--if she and the child survive the pregnancy and early infancy, of course.
Glad to read on in this story.
Author's reply
Thank you, Larner.
I think Boromir would have softened towards her quite quickly - and he is a born protector. A tentative start would have become trust and turned to love, I think. But the outcome is unlikely to remain happy for long.
French Pony
· 14 November 2006
· Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
The idea that Finduilas died of cancer amid rumors that she died in childbirth is nicely done. One can see how word of a possible third pregnancy might spread, how Finduilas herself might have believed that she had a baby inside her instead of a tumor.
But this current disease -- odd that it kills young adults but spares the elderly. Usually, disease attacks the children and the elderly, but spares adults. Perhaps this sickness is not entirely natural, especially given who lives next door to Gondor. But no matter how natural or unnatural the illness itself is, the way it got into the Citadel was entirely believable. A kitchen maid that no one cares about, handling food while sick, food that gets served to a pregnant lady who's somewhat delicate anyway. . . the perfect recipe for disaster.
Author's reply
Thank you! I can see Denethor slamming down the shutters when Finduilas died and refusing to talk about her to anyone. The disease - I remember watching a TV programme about the 1918-19 Spanish flu epidemic that said that older people were more resistant because it resembled and epidemic that had been around in the 1880s. But it is also likely that Sauron could well have been seeding illness - isn't there some suggestion that he sent plagues through Eriador? And with so many of illneses, it doesn't matter how much you try to keep them out, as long as people need food and laundry and servants and guards and night-soil removers there are going to be ways for disease to spread.
Raksha The Demon
· 14 November 2006
· Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
What a heartbreaking AU - beautifully told, of course. No wonder poor Boromir was in no hurry to marry after losing his wife and child so sadly. And I assume that Imrahil's lady would soon follow. Wahhhhh. Nasty plague.
(Raksha goes off to hug her dogs)
Author's reply
I was intending to kill off Almiriel at the same time, but she insisted on surviving. But I think she is likely to be delicate from now on.
Boromir had grown to love Emeldis, I think, and look forward to his child's arrival with joy. And he would have felt he had failed, too - even though he was in no better position than anyone else to protect her from illness. He would not willingly have remarried. Not for a long time, anyway. While Denethor has now, I suspect, become rather too enamoured of a spherical object to be quite as much on the case as he was.
And it had to have a sad end - poor Boromir wasn't a loving husband and the proud father of a dozen kids. (Should I be sorry you want to go and hug your dogs? Or pleased to have had that effect!)
mirthor
· 14 November 2006
· Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
Beautiful.
Author's reply
Thank you.
Jay of Lasgalen
· 14 November 2006
· Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
Poor Emeldis. Poor Boromir. And poor unnamed child.
The fever sweeping the city added another dimension to the tension of this story - and at least it proved me wrong over the cause of Emeldis's death. I do hope that Imrahil's wife survived - I don't recall any mention of her in canon.
A beautiful, very sad tale.
Jay
Author's reply
It had to have a sad ending. Poor Boromir - he would have made, I think, a good father. (I hope Emeldis and the child were waiting for him in whatever afterlife he found.)
Minas Tirith must have been a wonderful environment for spreading disease. And closing the gates between the levels wouldn't really have been very effective - the city would have collapsed without people passing between the levels.
Imrahil's wife survived this, but I think she was weakened by it. And didn't live (my version) until the Ring War. She's not mentioned in canon, I think, but then so few women are - yet they must have existed!
Thank you.
Lianna
· 14 November 2006
· Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
Very realistic. Unfortunately.
It's hard for us, today, to imagine what it must have been like for communities to face sudden and devastating epidemics against which they were utterly helpless. Nothing like this has happened since the 1918 flu, really. But throughout most of human history, it was commonplace. Thanks for reminding us, even though it was a very brutal reminder.
Author's reply
Cities are breeding grounds for epidemics, too. All those people so close together - and, for much of history, without proper drainage. I'm thinking 1848(?) cholera epidemic in London, where Dr Snow(?) removed the pump handle in Broad Street and stopped the spread. And then I remember a TV programme that said that older people withstood the 1918 flu better, probably because of immunity built up during a similar epidemic in the 1880s.
Boromir would have fought it if he could - but he didn't have the weapons. Losing a young wife and baby would, I think, account for why he remained unmarried, when it's obvious that his house needed to produce heirs if it was to continue to guide Gondor through the difficult years ahead.
Fingers crossed for an eventual reunion in whatever afterlife they attain. (Not that I intend to document it!)
Kitty
· 14 November 2006
· Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
*sigh* I had known it, something was about to happen to mother and child *sniff*
Poor Boromir, how hard for him to stay away, not being able to get to his wife, to see her at least one last time, to hold his son. I am glad at least Imrahil's wife was with Emeldís, so she wasn't alone, for *Denethor* would've been the last of the family to care for her.
Wel, I suppose that was the end of it - even if Denethor decided to marry off his son another time, I doubt Boromir would have agreed easily. He may not have known Emeldís in the beginning, but I think he had truly begun to love her, tried his best to understand her, even if the moods of a pregnant wife are a bit beyond his experiences. And that he was not at her side in the end was probably even worse for him. Somehow I suppose he didn't want to repeat this.
The end was touching. All this cold stone seems so ... cold and impersonal, and I am glad Boromir felt that, too.
Author's reply
They couldn't live, really, not and have the Boromir of the Fellowship ride to Rivendell. I think Boromir is a natural protector - of Faramir, of the hobbits - and he would have found it very hard not to be able to protect his wife and child. But the guard was right - even the Steward's heir doesn't know how to protect them from disease. Imrahil's wife was very much needed as a mother-substitute here - but the illness has left her frail and I'm not sure how many more years she lived.
Denethor is at the beginning, I think, of his love affair with the Palantir and is perhaps slightly less aware of dynastic concerns - otherwise he might well have realised that a dozen proud grandsons might offer an excellent shield against certain scruffy Rangers of the north. And Boromir would certainly have refused to marry again at the time - I reckon it would probably take him a decade or so before his resistance could be overcome. And Denethor might not have wanted Faramir's sons muddying the waters.
And, of course, Boromir did not return to Rath Dinen. Not even in death.
daw the minstrel
· 14 November 2006
· Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
Oh this is so sad. Everyone is so helpless. Poor mother, unable to protect her child. Poor baby, born into a world where he should have been loved and granted only a few breaths. Poor Boromir.
Author's reply
It had to have a sad ending, really. Poor Boromir can't be happy. I do feel for Emeldis and the child - and, although the marriage was wished on Boromir, I can see that he would be very protective of both of them and love them, perhaps, even more once they were taken from him. And refuse to marry again. At least until after Denethor had become too obsessed with other things to insist on it.
Lady Bluejay
· 14 November 2006
· Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
Not the usual happy ending. Sad for Boromir, but it must have happened a lot in those days. LBJ
Author's reply
No - it couldn't have a happy ending, really. Boromir clearly wasn't a husband and the father of a happy brood when he rode to Rivendell. You're right - it must have happened a lot. Less, probably, at Boromir's level of society, but even then... And cities are excellent places for disease to spread.
Armariel
· 12 November 2006
· Chapter 1: Ensuring the Succession
(Was trying to review this last night and my friends wouldn't let me!)
Wonderful characterizations throughout...especially the Brothers...mmmm!!! Don't know how Emeldis can be so...reluctant *ggg* But I'm sure he'd find her more attractive than the leagues of women who'd be more than happy to hurl themselves in his general direction. (Maybe she knows this and is playing hard to get?? nahhhhh.......)
Lothiriel is lovely and so are her parents. But I know this isn't going to end happily ever after, of course.......:(
~~~{~@
Author's reply
I think Emeldis might well become reconciled to her fate reasonably quickly - especially as Boromir is a lot less intimidating and scary when he is alone with her than when he's being the rather splendid young captain and Steward's heir. I can, somehow, see him being very gentle with her and far more considerate than might be expected. He has a big soft streak, I think, as shown in his relationship with the hobbits!
I enjoyed little Lothiriel! But you're right - there is unlikely to be a happy ending.
Grey Wonderer
· 11 November 2006
· Chapter 1: Ensuring the Succession
Every word of this is beautiful. I love seeing Boromir less secure and the growing relationship with his new bride is lovely. I have also enjoyed his talks with the very wise Faramir. Such a help to his older brother in a very tough time. I have read many stories in which the Thain arranges Pippin marriage but this is the first time I have read anything regarding a marriage for Boromir. I hadn't thought about it, but Denethor would have been the very type to insist on such a thing. I can't wait for more of this one.
Author's reply
With the situation in Gondor and the amount of time Boromir and Faramir spent at the front, it is really quite remarkable that Denethor didn't insist on them marrying and producing a couple of sons each before he would let them go into danger. After all, if his sons died without heirs, he was opening the way for that dratted suspicious northerner to come back and steal Gondor from under his nose.
Boromir loved his mother, I think - and I can see him being a very gentle husband to a nervous young bride. While she would definitely learn to love him pretty quickly!
Grey Wonderer
· 11 November 2006
· Chapter 0: A Question Asked
Wonderful Pippin logic! I do adore Boromir with the hobbits and I am enjoying this conversation very much. Lovely chapter. I liked the way Pippin completely ignored Merry's insult.
Author's reply
Thank you. I think the hobbits appealed to the protective side of Boromir's nature - even as he found them rather disconcerting. And cousins! They know better than to take offence at what the other says.
harrowcat
· 11 November 2006
· Chapter 1: Ensuring the Succession
Ooh the plot definitely thickens. I feel sorry for the pair of them but there is hope blooming too.
Author's reply
Hope remains while the company is true ...
Now, where did that come from?
I think Boromir and Emeldis are growing closer - but the prospects for lasting happiness are not good!
Redheredh
· 11 November 2006
· Chapter 1: Ensuring the Succession
Very entertaining, so far.
Boromir's nobility comes to the fore, just as it would normally. I really like Emeldis' as an apparently disillusioned young maiden. Fortunately, Aunt and Uncle are good advisors. Lothiriel and Amrothros are darling and should encourage both newly-weds that children are worth the effort. And, Faramir is already too clever - which will lead to conflict with his controlling father later, I am sure. ;)
I do like a good romance - in the classic and modern genres both!
Author's reply
Boromir has a wide soft streak he tries hard to conceal. Brought out by the sort of women who are like his mother, children, animals and Faramir. And Dol Amroth is somewhere that both of Finduilas's sons associate with happiness and understanding and the absence of pressure. (I suspect Denethor resents they way they are both willing to confide in Uncle Imrahil.)
I can't see a happy ending for this romance, though.