An other lovely little story.
It's good to see Elrond playing with Estel, it was a good idea of the twins to get him to try and steal the pen like they did when they were young.
Gilrean will not be happy with the ink, but she will indeed blame the minders instead of Elrond :)
Author's reply
I think the twins are dipping into their memories of childhood at the moment rather than just letting things happen. And Elrond deserves to join in the fun.
(And if I was going to blame someone, it would definitely be the approachable and mischievous twins rather than the very dignified Master of Imladris!)
Selene
· 22 December 2006
· Chapter 4: Spice
Sweet!! I love the perspective in this one, Iavas is very glad to see that Elladan is coming back to be the child he used to be.
Estel just had the time of his life, like all childeren have when baking ;)
Author's reply
Oh yes! And I don't think Iavas is the only one who is pleased to see Elladan and Elrohir seeking to replay some of the joys of childhood. Estel thoroughly enjoyed the experience - and will, I'm sure, do his best to coax Elladan to repeat it as often as possible.
perelleth
· 22 December 2006
· Chapter 5: Comfort
Very amusing. A child with a pen and ink is such a danger! Let us hope Estel learns soon that ink is to be used *only* on a parchemnt.
Ah, the wonderful world of handmade ink! Galls, burnt bone, fish gelatine... heheh. If Elrond was using Erestor's irremovable ink, then we will a have a Dunadan with a tatoo! ;-) Another lovely piece, Bodkin. What fun!
Author's reply
Oh goodness, yes! Elrond really doesn't need childish scribbles over the walls! Although the availability of pens, pencils and ink isn't what it would be now.
And it's remarkable how you end up looking up things like the ingredients of ink and the method of construction of pens - even for a short piece like this! The ink will wear off Estel in time ... I suspect Elrond knows that from experience.
Gwynhyffar
· 22 December 2006
· Chapter 5: Comfort
Ha ha ha! That's right, Elrond - let the twins take the fall! Once again, Bodkin, I loved it. Estel is really helping everyone lighten up a bit and if anyone is in need of comfort it is Elrond and his family.
Author's reply
Thanks, Gwynhyffar, I'm glad you liked it - and I'm sure Elrond won't even have to say a word to excuse himself for letting Estel play with the ink. I don't think the inhabitants of Imladris knew what a difference Estel would make to them. Rightly and very prophetically named.
Elflingimp
· 22 December 2006
· Chapter 5: Comfort
Aw! that was so very cute! Merry Christmas!
Author's reply
Thank you. Merry Christmas to you, too! Have fun.
daw the minstrel
· 22 December 2006
· Chapter 5: Comfort
Oh man. If someone had let my kid play in ink, I'd have been questioning their common sense, but I suppose you don't do that with Elrond.
I suppose it would be easier to delight in a child in a place where there were many people to care for him and keep you company as you did it.
Author's reply
Well - it'll wash off. In time. Although the recipe I found for Exchequer ink promised that it would last for centuries!
Gilraen would rather - far rather - have brought her son up in his own home with his father present. But she could have done a lot worse than end up with the care and support of the elves around her.
harrowcat
· 22 December 2006
· Chapter 5: Comfort
oh, *snigger* Elrond gets the fun and the twins get the blame - well done Elrond but brilliantly done twins to lift Elrond's spirits too.
Author's reply
Elrond might just be a bit too dignified to indulge in playing with Estel without his sons' encouragement. And he'll be really glad he took part in the games.
And of course Elrond would admit his involvement if challenged - but can you see Gilraen accusing him? So much simpler to blame the minders!
French Pony
· 22 December 2006
· Chapter 5: Comfort
Very good early training for the boy who will one day have to slip unseen through the Wild right under the noses of Black Riders. Definitely worth the minor injury to Elrond's dignity. But one does hope that the ink is edible. . .
Author's reply
Oh my - ink research!!
"Exchequer Ink.--To 40 pounds of galls, add 10 pounds of gum, 9 pounds of copperas, and 45 gallons of soft water. This ink will endure for centuries."
Aleppo galls are best apparently ... and galls have medicinal uses and can be used as a gargle for sore throats. They have an astringent taste with a slightly sweet after-taste. While copperas - aka ferrous sulphate - is in iron tablets.
And you wouldn't believe the number of recipes I've found for ink!
I wouldn't recommend taking up secret ink swigging - but I don't think the odd taste will do any harm.
And I daresay E3 will do a lot of scouting practice! Some of it rather more subtle than this.
meckinock
· 21 December 2006
· Chapter 3: Admiration
It's nice to see Gilraen and Elrond bonding on the issue of offspring that idolize others to the point of driving their parents to distraction. What amusing insight into the childhoods of Elrond's sons. And Glorfindel, humbly inspecting his nails - "I do my best" LOL. Gilraen cracks me up with the "no pets" proclamation, though. This battle is going to be over before it starts!
Author's reply
Elrond will be careful to avoid emphasising the differences, I think - and be only too happy to let her see what they have in common. And amongst them, Glorfindel and the twins will see they get a lot of opportunities for parental stress!
The 'no pets' might work for a while. But not, I suspect, for long. Although Gilraen might fight for 'no pets in your bed' for longer.
meckinock
· 21 December 2006
· Chapter 2: Discovery
Poor Gilraen. She may not have fully understood what she signed up for when she enlisted 3,000 year old playmates for her son. Talk about knowing every trick in the book. Elladan handled that episode very smoothly, I thought. I just loved his surreptitious wink at Elrond, and Elrond's unobserved, backstage commentary. And beaming Estel with his hair full of frog glop - precious!
Author's reply
Elladan can do smooth! Almost too well at times. And how can Gilraen fail to have been touched by a happy little son who has just had a whale of a time. Especially if she doesn't have to clear up the frogspawn!
I can just see the whole of Imladris conspiring to give Estel a perfect childhood. Only trouble with that being that the next seventy years will have a job matching up ... But still. Better than a miserable childhood followed by 70 difficult years.
Jay of Lasgalen
· 21 December 2006
· Chapter 4: Spice
*Sniff* This was lovely. Elladan was so encouraging and helpful with Estel, and so caring. I like Iavas's amused tolerance, and her memories of two other young cooks were heartbreaking.
Her final words were perfect - so ambiguous! :>)
Jay
Author's reply
Elladan is relearning the joys of play. And simple things - like fun in the kitchen. He and Elrohir are fishing all these activities out of their memories of a happy childhood at the moment - but soon, I daresay, they will be making new memories.
Iavas is happy to have one of her twins back in her domain - and will, I daresay, encourage him to bring Estel back for more!
perelleth
· 21 December 2006
· Chapter 4: Spice
Heheh. This has finally become a series! (It's growing up, you must admit)
I really like that there seems to be an external pov that gives us a deeper insight. For the cook surely it was a cherished memory as well, and the chance of letting know, indirectly, that they are still loved. And meanwhile Estel had a great day and gained a new friend in a very important position! ;-)
Author's reply
It's addictive! I suppose - eventually - little Estel will grow into his own part, but I'm having a surprising amount of fun contemplating how the arrival of a little one would have rebounded on all the inhabitants of Imladris.
Seeing Elladan play - must have been a joy for those who knew him as a child. Worth any amount of mess in the kitchen! And I suspect Elladan's introduction of him to Iavas has won the child another loyal supporter.
harrowcat
· 21 December 2006
· Chapter 4: Spice
Lovely again Bodkin. I love the contrast/comparison between the twins and Estel as children.
Author's reply
Thank you, harrowcat. I reckon Estel's arrival must have brought back all kinds of memories - and touched the hearts of all those who called Imladris home.
SurgicalSteel
· 21 December 2006
· Chapter 4: Spice
*melts*
Oh, that was so sweet! Iavas clearly still has a soft spot for Elladan, hasn't she?
Author's reply
Iavas is very fond of both twins - and Arwen - and will persist in seeing them as elflings until Arda ends, I suspect. She tries to hide it, though, but I don't think she's got them fooled!
Lindelea
· 21 December 2006
· Chapter 4: Spice
Ah, you wretch. Started out with a grin and ended with a tightness in the throat, as you no doubt intended.
Some lovely descriptions and turns of phrase here. (Like Elladan musing about laundry--it takes skill to render such a mundane task into poetical terms.)
I liked this especially:
Clearly this little one was more than capable of winning his own battles.
What a lovely cook... and her memories... and the transformation in Elladan. Clearly he will make a wonderful father someday. (But he makes a grand "uncle" or "foster brother" or whatever you'd call him, too.)
Author's reply
Iavas doubtless mourned the change in two whom she will persist in seeing as children - and is deeply content to see the inner elfling surfacing! Elladan, I think, cares very deeply - and his loyalty, once won, is unfailing. He will be good for Estel - and, at the moment, Estel is very good for him.
I'm glad you're enjoying the tales!
Larner
· 21 December 2006
· Chapter 4: Spice
Aha! The inner child has slipped back out in Elladan, and Iavas recognizes and responds to it delightfully. And, for the moment at least, she has that child back, as ready to hug it to her as she is the human child who kisses her with honey literally on his lips.
Lovely.
Author's reply
I think that, at the moment, Elladan and Elrohir are seeking out the memories of what made their childhoods special and are offering similar experiences to Estel.
Iavas can be a little crusty - but she loved the twins and Arwen and is surprised how happy it makes her to see little Elladan surfacing in the rather relentless warrior he has become.
Kitty
· 21 December 2006
· Chapter 4: Spice
Little Estel is so adorable! May I borrow him for a bit of cuddling?
And it is absolutely sweet and thoughtful of Elladan to think of this. No matter how messy the kitchen may be in the end, little Estel has made something special for his mama and is now so happy and proud.
Author's reply
This is the sort of activity that children adore - and remember much better than you expect them to. And Elladan did his best to tidy up! He just lacks practice - most of his cooking is done over a camp fire.
I'm sure Estel would enjoy the cuddling. But you might have to listen to a lot of Elladan / Elrohir / Glorfindel says ... But you wouldn't mind that - would you?
daw the minstrel
· 21 December 2006
· Chapter 4: Spice
Lovely picture of Elladan, the Son of Elrond and fearsome warrior. I like stories that show one of the twins by himself sometimes. It allows us to think of that character on his own. Estel's piped up "Please" is just great. No doubt Gilraen will hear a great deal about what Elladan says and does while she eats her biscuits (that's cookies, right?).
Author's reply
I rather like separating the twins at times. It helps make them more multi-dimensional, apart from anything else. And I think it opens them out more - they are each other's shield at times and between the two of them, they were able to fend off anything. Except Estel, maybe! I'm sure Gilraen will be able to endure the Elladan-admiration-society - considering what the two of them were up to! And yes. Cookies.
French Pony
· 21 December 2006
· Chapter 4: Spice
A sweet chapter, in more ways than one. You know that the staff at Imladris is happy to play along with whatever requests the sons of Elrond make, just to see them revert to their kinder, gentler selves for a while (but one wonders if the sons of Elrond themselves are quite aware of this). And I love the glimpse of cookie-making from the two-year-old perspective, of playing all afternoon with soft, nice-tasting things.
Author's reply
It must be a pleasure for those who watched the sons of Elrond grow up to realise that there is still a soft and gentle side there. Even if they weren't keen to welcome Estel for his own sake, seeing the difference he made to the twins would have earned him their love.
And what a blissful afternoon for Estel - spices and honey and squishy cookie dough - and the undivided attention of one of his heroes. Just what any kid would love.
harrowcat
· 21 December 2006
· Chapter 3: Admiration
Glorfindel grinned. ‘Let battle commence,’ he declared. ‘I look forward to it.’
So do we all! This story is going on my favourites list Bodkin.
Author's reply
Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it. The inhabitants of Imladris have just found that their lives are going to be a lot more interesting over the next few years!
lwarren
· 20 December 2006
· Chapter 3: Admiration
I would have to quote this entire segment to point out all the parts that I liked the best! This was just great, Bodkin! Glorfindel never fails to make me laugh; he is such a 'superior' elf! I liked that Gilrean is seeing that the raising of her son will be a joint effort - that she is not alone, and between them all, Aragorn will grow up to be a man they can all be proud of. In the meantime, I'm with Glorfindel...let the battles commence! (Awwww, a sweet kitty...)
linda
Author's reply
Glorfindel is such a star! (He writes his own script!)
Gilraen could, at first, only see the differences - and she was taken from all she knew to be place among an alien race - but now she has begun to understand the similarities and build alliances. They will work together to raise a son they can all be proud of.
I suspect Gilraen will win this round - and it might well give her a much better understanding of the lengths to which the twins will go! Later ... I'm sure pets will be an important part of Estel's life.
lwarren
· 20 December 2006
· Chapter 2: Discovery
EWWWWWW! Frogspawn? Yuck! Still, I think perhaps it's worth it to see the twins and Estel playing again. I loved Elrond's thoughts as he watched from the balcony as the 'drama' unfolded below. And I loved Estel's trust as he looks up to his new brothers and fellow mischief makers! Gilraen must be as relieved as she is grossed out! LOL The only thing I can say is that it's a good thing that young boys (and the older ones, too) are washable! :-)
linda
Author's reply
Elrond can be objective enough, I think, to be pleased - in a detached way - whilst also maybe casting his eyes up and wondering if he's ready for this. But Estel already adores the sons of Elrond - who are perhaps a bit more like indulgent uncles at the moment - and know sooooo much (and are willing to share it all with a little admirer).
I don't think Gilraen minds the mud. But she shares your reaction to frogspawn. (A childhood experience, I think!)
lwarren
· 20 December 2006
· Chapter 1: Brotherhood
Underneath all that sorrow and grief (both Gilraen's and Elrohir's) is the hope unrecognized that this young life brings to Imladris. "He is kin." Elrohir said so much right there. I don't think he even suspects how deeply Estel will affect his life. And Elladan's...and Elrond's, too. Gilraen will have three sons to correct now, I think. I also think she'll appreciate it in the longrun! :-) *sigh* I know I'm going to love these just as much as the hijinks between E2 and L! (Or should I just call them EL3? LOL) Lovely beginning, Bodkin.
linda
Author's reply
Even in complete ignorance of the Arwen outcome, I think it is brave of Elrohir to volunteer to be a brother to Estel. I doubt Gilraen understands it - yet, at any rate - but he must know the pain that is involving in loving mortals. Yet the arrival of Estel is indeed that of 'hope' in Elrond's household.
It might take Gilraen a while to recognise that she will be playing 'mother' to two elves a hundred times her age ... but she'll cope!
(And I'm sorry, but Legolas won't be popping over from Mirkwood. In my mind he didn't meet Estel until after he had become Aragorn.)
Larner
· 20 December 2006
· Chapter 3: Admiration
No pets, is it? The first barrier she's tried to raise is likely to be the first to fall.
And he is fortunate, is our young Estel, to have such love and competence surrounding him.
Author's reply
Well - I think she might win this round. Estel really is too young to take on a pet yet. But I suspect she might have to give in in the next year or two - so she had better choose her ground well and ensure he ends up with a pet she can deal with!
Estel has a lot of very wise and very caring people around him - who are all prepared to work together to raise a healthy, happy and well-balanced child.
French Pony
· 20 December 2006
· Chapter 3: Admiration
Good to see Gilraen settling down a little, and especially finding that she has something in common with the Elves. That must make her life a lot easier.
Author's reply
I think Gilraen must have found Imladris intimidating at first - and the differences between men and elves must have made her feel a complete outsider. Now - she is learning that the things they have in common are more important than the differences, while they share a common purpose in wanting to raise a happy, healthy, well-balanced child. She will find life easier - although the more comfortable she gets in Imladris, the harder it will be for her ever to return to the life she had before.