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Title: South · Author: Aliana · Times: Fourth Age and Beyond: Gondor or Rohan · ID: 8
Reviewer: agape4gondor · 2007-06-18 14:45:59
This was beautiful - hauntingly peaceful, yet poignant. It all means very much to me. Beautiful.

Title: A Life Between - No Secrets · Author: Elen Kortirion · Races: Men: General Drabble · ID: 446
Reviewer: agape4gondor · 2007-06-19 16:50:15
I had a difficult time trying to get to this - I'm not familiar with LJ - but this was well worth the difficulties. Sensuous, to say the least, and in so few words. Very well done. I especially liked the ending. Something that is known - something that is dreaded. Very, very nice!

Title: Sweet Memories · Author: PipMer · Races: Hobbits · ID: 272
Reviewer: agape4gondor · 2007-06-19 17:01:35
I had to laugh because I usually don't like flowery descriptions, but I loved how you immediately sequed into Frodo's total disinterest in it. I love the simplicity of the moments that you bring to mind; they are delightfully told. I love the short, quiet telling of the tragedy, and Frodo's gently leaving the river behind.

I was a little disconcerted with the ending. It seemed too 'pat' for me - but loved the idea of the 'bond' between the two - not that I'm a great thinker or such - but it never dawned on me that the two of them were orphaned right around the same age. I think I would have enjoyed a little more of their friendship. Perhaps there is a sequel?

Title: Fruition · Author: EdorasLass · Genres: Alternate Universe: Gondor or Rohan · ID: 7
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2007-06-19 17:02:26
EdorasLass seems to be making a tradition of AUs that raise the hair on the back of a reader's neck – first [Love Me and Despair], and now this story, which shows a far more ruthless crew of Dol Amroth nobility than anyone would have imagined. Imrahil is perhaps the hardest to believe, given that we actually see him, hear him speak, and glean something of his character in Tolkien's work. Imrahil's characterization is the one point I'm not truly able to swallow – I'd believe this far more easily if Imrahil, too, were the unwitting victim of manipulation by sister and father.

That said, it's an almost perfect power play – and it leaves one wondering indeed how the battle for Minas Tirith and for Gondor would have turned out some half a century later. How would the thorny issue of succession play out when Aragorn knows he has enemies in Gondor who would literally kill for power? Even before then, however, would Boromir even come north? Would Boromir be alive at all? Who knows? And if anyone from Gondor did appear in Imladris, no doubt Aragorn would be on his guard from day one, even assuming that person – Imrahil's heir? Boromir? Faramir? – were ever chosen to accompany Frodo.

This is a story that raises far more questions than it answers, for all it is a very short story. Read it if you like political thrillers or are feeling the need for something dark and disturbing.

Title: Divided · Author: Pen52 · Genres: Drama: The Fellowship · ID: 223
Reviewer: agape4gondor · 2007-06-19 17:09:42
Wow! This was good. The level of tension surprised me. I liked Boromir's anger and frustration. I liked Pip's questions, though it took me a bit to get used to your style, and I liked Aragorn's character. I think you did very well here. But, as I said, I especially liked the tension. It still has me tingling in a slight fear.

Title: The Gates · Author: Isabeau of Greenlea · Races: Dwarves · ID: 70
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2007-06-19 17:16:09
Every so often, Gimli hijacks Isabeau's creative side, and it's always to good effect: from ["Repairs"] to ["The Old Dwarf and the Sea"], Gimli consistently shows up as a well-written, strong personality who gives a unique look at the lives of Elves and others. In this story, Gimli once again demonstrates that he has more sides than many give him credit for, and this time, there's no Elf in view to draw his attention: this time, we see Gimli working among his own people to make good on the promise he had made to Aragorn, namely, the rebuilding of the gates of Minas Tirith.

Gimli knows himself to be no master craftsman, but he does want a part in the crafting of the gates, and he even extracts -- very humbly, very politely, for this is a Dwarf whose courteous tongue even Galadriel has praised as enabling him to ask the most audacious favors -- a promise from the dwarven mastersmith, Snorri, that he will have some small part in their making. Snorri swears that Gimli's name will be placed on the gates among those of the other smiths who will be involved in the making of the gates. This is enough for Gimli, who settles into negotiating all the necessary matters for the upkeep of the smiths, content with the idea that at some point, he will be asked to help craft the gates.

Two years later, the gates are finally complete, after a lengthy creative process, involving much negotition, research, customs inspection and arguing with penny-pinching and occasionally penny-thieving merchants, community public relations and reparrations, and the occasional bailing out of Dwarves from city cooling pens for rowdy, drunken artisans. Gimli has managed to shuffle everything and everyone along, and keep all the balls in the air, but he hasn't been able to lay finger to hammer or any other crafter's tool, which grieves him.

Snorri, however, is unmoved, and he has kept the literal terms of his promise -- Gimli's name is on the gates, and a wise old dwarven craftsman bids Gimli look again at the role he has played that none of the craftsmen could have. It's a good old 'know thyself' moment for Gimli and satisfying to see him come into his own beyond the two skills he admits he has -- killing orcs and prospecting.

Definite must-read for Gimli fans!

Title: Forcing a Path · Author: Linaewen · Genres: Drama: The Fellowship · ID: 400
Reviewer: agape4gondor · 2007-06-19 17:22:25
Delightful tale - this was so well-written that I honestly believed the incident was from the book. Imagine my surprise when I realized it was not - but part of the author's imagination. This was my first 'taste' of 'fanon' - for that is what it is to me now. This incident is forever part of Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring.

I loved the descriptions you used, the characters were spot on, and the level of tension great during the avalance itself. The dialogue was fun too - love to see these two working together.

Excellent tale.

Title: A Million Little Stars To Light Their Way · Author: Cathleen · Genres: Drama: The Shire · ID: 387
Reviewer: agape4gondor · 2007-06-19 17:40:18
I'm writing as I'm reading - pay no attention! This is great so far. I love the fact that you have Pip & Merry still suffering from the effects of their journey. I cannot imagine that they were unscathed. I love that you have the Hobbits remembering Boromir with grief... I like the flashbacks, you write them well... they are easy to see what is the present and what is the past... I always thought one of the hardest things for the Hobbits would be the lack of a fire and nice warm food - you bring this out nicely.I almost cried at Pippin's anguish - he asked the same question I have too often asked - why did Boromir have to die - and then, I got chills as I read of their discovery of 'Boromir's constellation!!! Great idea. Excellent ending! *sighs*

Title: "A Cat Of A Different Color" · Author: Cathleen · Genres: Mystery · ID: 385
Reviewer: agape4gondor · 2007-06-19 17:57:50
I love the ease with which you write your descriptions and your dialogue. I love how Boromir prepared to tell his story, his easy laughter, the Hobbits teasing, Aragorn's wonder. And I liked Sam feeling so at ease that he could pop in with his own little thoughts. I loved the diagram and the fact that the cat, I should have thought of it, could not speak! And I loved Boromir's tale, much better than the one about Queen Beruthial!

Title: South · Author: Aliana · Times: Fourth Age and Beyond: Gondor or Rohan · ID: 8
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2007-06-19 18:07:30
Aliana has a way of finding just the right words, and of drawing them all together into a sort of collage made of memories and (often enough) music: songs and tunes are recurring motifs, as if they are the stuff that hold memories together. Perhaps they are, in a way. Songs and silences – moments of memory that hold characters and a story together.

In ["South"], Merry's dreams of horses lead him from a full life in which nothing apparently is lacking back to Gondor, to a visit with Eowyn in Ithilien. All along the road, Merry finds himself seeking after some sign of old memories, something to make them perhaps real once more, though he always pulls back, always stops his questing with the realization that one cannot love the present journey for the way it evokes a past one. It's the hobbit, or rather, the Brandybuck in him that saves him: ["you must love the road for the road."] And one's wife for being who she is, as Merry wisely does.

Once in Ithilien, he stays with Eowyn, whose husband is negotiating with Harad, hoping to avoid a new war to the south. He finds that seeing the horses of his dreams does not answer to whatever it was that drew him out to Ithilien. This is, in many ways, I think, the key to the whole story: what place does the dream of horses have in this? I really love Aliana's portrayal of the dream: the easy way out is to make the dream's content have a direct meaning, a one-to-one correspondence with whatever it is that troubles Merry.

But dreams don't work that way: they are indirect; it's the dreamwork that is important, that translates whatever unconscious desire or anxiety vexes Merry into these images of horses. And so we find it isn't really about the horses, or even about Eowyn * insofar * as she is associated with horses. It's about loss: the fading of horses into the distance in his dreams repeats the fading of memories or the reduction of the fullness of Merry's life to a [strange knotty tune]; it repeats or represents the peculiar shrinking of Merry's world:

["He once thought that leaving the Shire, seeing all the wilds and wonders and terrors of Middle-earth would make his world larger, and it has. But in some ways his world is also smaller, now, shrunk down to the roomful of people with whom he can sit in silence and not feel the need to explain."]

Eowyn is one of those people, one of those to whom he can say ["Frodo's gone," Merry murmurs without really realizing], and who can reply, [from across the table, across mountains and oceans and cities.

"I know," she says. "I know."]

This is the difference between Eowyn and Estella that matters:

[He sits and listens to her breathing beside him, and he realizes that he's come because he needs her. He needs Estella, too, of course, and he loves her, loves her and their son more than anything else. But Éowyn understands a small obscure piece of him, a strange knotty tune playing itself out always at the back of his mind. And so he needs her like he needs Legolas and Gimli and Éomer, like he needs Strider—not that he's really old Strider very much anymore, it seems. Like he needs Faramir and Sam and Pippin. Like he needs Gandalf and Frodo.]

This is why in the end, Merry, like Pippin, cannot remain in the Shire, but must eventually pass south to end their days among those who understand the strange melody that time and war and hardship have introduced into their lives. Merry needs such people in order not to be alone, and perhaps that is what this story is about in the end: the recognition, the proof that Merry is not alone. And so the dreams cease, as that one anxiety, perhaps, finds an answer and so is able to be laid to rest.

Beautiful story-telling, Aliana, in every conceivable way. If you love Tolkien's work, read this story, you won't be disappointed.

Title: Drawing Straight With Crooked Lines · Author: Fiondil · Genres: Drama · ID: 76
Reviewer: agape4gondor · 2007-06-19 19:03:26
It was brilliant to start out with Boromir's death scene - and wonderfully told too - just that short little bit set the stage for the 'meat' of your tale... and drat! I found it difficult to know that Boromir did not hear and feel Aragorn's final farewell.
Boromir's sense of not caring where he was or what was happening - because he was so burdened by his guilt - gave a beautiful, poignant start to the rest of the tale.
When I first read this on SoA, it was my first introduction to 'your' Namo - I still am in awe of this character - the beauty, peace and just ease of presence of the Vala is comforting. Though I know he can be fearsome!
I loved Boromir's reaction to him - though his body was reacting totally different than his mind.
I loved the sense of pure shame that came out of your writing of Boromir's admission of guilt. And I loved even more that, after the first hesitant admission, Boromir took ownership of it, and declared it more firmly. That is what I would have expected of him.
I loved Boromir's discomfiture when he realized what he already knew - that he stood (sat) before one of the Valar. And which Vala it was!
I love Namo's reasoning - and making Boromir walk that path himself - it explains to the Man of Gondor exactly why he did what he did - and what a great thing it was - though the cost - in the end was horrid. [Fulfilled his destiny] - I do like the sound of that - makes his death a little easier - though still pain-filled.
And I so love the argument for Faramir's cause - and the reason why he could not go - and Boromir's quick defense - as always - of his brother!
I'm glad Boromir finally had a moment to grieve, though it was unnessary, for Gondor and for Minas Tirith.
I love the fact that Namo helped Boromir see the worth that he held in Boromir's eyes! That was a true gift for Boromir.
I absolutely ADORE (well almost) Namo's regard for Boromir and that he lets Boromir see that regard, that love, that acceptance.
I loved the ending - that Boromir decided to stay and wait - and I absolutely loved WHO he was waiting for!
This was such an incredible tale - so totally out of what I would consider mainstream Tolkien fiction - you are truly gifted. As a writer and as a man!
Lastly - I must comment on the title - it is perfect. It tells so much in so little words and gives such hope to all of us. Thank you for the gift of that and for the gift of this tale. I am blessed to have read it. *stops as tears fill her eyes*



Title: Through the Eyes of Another · Author: grey_wonderer · Races: Hobbits: Merry and Pippin · ID: 136
Reviewer: Mews1945 · 2007-06-20 01:59:45
Although it is difficult to imagine Merry and Pippin as very old hobbits, this story presents them in such a way that they are easy to see as the elders they were when they left the Shire to go and be with Eomer in his last days, and it is even easier to believe they are still the Merry and Pippin we came to know and love in the books and the movies. Their banter is true to the characters, and so are their motives and actions. Pippin is still Merry's "little cousin", and Merry is still the protective older brother to his young cousin. It is heartwarming and touching to read about them in this setting and context, and the author writes them with the warmth and humor that suffuses so much of her fanficiton.

Title: A Life Between II · Author: Elen Kortirion · Genres: Romance: Drabble · ID: 445
Reviewer: Oshun · 2007-06-20 03:32:43
Congratulations on an extremely effective use of the true drabble format: to create an entire story in 100 words. Like the foreshadowing and the the sentiment conveyed without resorting to sentimentality.

Title: Turned Earth · Author: Dana · Genres: Alternate Universe: The Shire or Buckland · ID: 26
Reviewer: Mews1945 · 2007-06-20 20:47:44
At first glance it seems impossible that this story could work. Hobbits and Zombies? The terms are antithetical. And yet, in this author's capable hands, the concept not only works, it is extraordinarily believable. Grounded in the solid soil of the Shire, peopled by the hobbits we know and love, it gives us a truly horrible premise and makes us believe it's happening, because the hobbits are so real, their reactions and their emotions are so real. The events unfold in a carefully paced and rendered chronology, as the characters come face to face with things so terrible they can scarce believe them, and yet they must, in order to survive. It is the love they bear for one another, Merry for Pippin, Rose and Sam for each other, Frodo for all his kin and friends, that gives them the strength to fight and survive. In the end, the story returns to canon, and that too, adds to the believability of the tale.

Title: Golfing Fever · Author: lbilover · Races: Hobbits: Pre-Quest · ID: 75
Reviewer: Mews1945 · 2007-06-20 22:21:49
I am not a golf fan. And, it turns out, neither is Frodo Baggins. But Sam is very much a fan, one who has the deepest admiration for an excellently played game. And a hobbit named Mungo Baggins, a cousin of Frodo's, is superb golfer. When Sam displays what Frodo considers an inordinate admiration for Mungo, to the point of wanting to caddy for him in an upcoming Four Farthings Gold Tournament, Frodo becomes alarmed by the thought that his cousin may have insidious designs on his gardener. This brings him to the realization that he himself is in love with Sam, and he must do something to keep Sam from Mungo's clutches. But Frodo needs Sam to caddy for him, and to help him practice his game. The story relates the progress of their practices and Frodo's growing awareness of Sam's attractive and lovable qualities, and an account of the Tournament play and the aftermath. A delightfully entertaining read.

Title: Lost in Translation · Author: sophinisba solis · Races: Cross-Cultural: With Pippin · ID: 31
Reviewer: Mews1945 · 2007-06-21 19:48:26
"Lost in Translation" takes the reader deeply into the mind and heart of Peregrin Took, in the days after the hobbits arrive in Rivendell. Pippin feels left out and alone because no one seems willing to take the time to tell him and Merry about their beloved cousin's condition. Even Merry is acting like someone Pippin doesn't know, and Pippin feels lost and helpless. Only afterr Frodo awakens are Pippin's questions and concerns answered. The scene between Pippin and Frodo is poignant and touching, and reveals a relationship of trust and love that is believable and wonderful to contemplate.

Title: The Archives Incident · Author: Dreamflower · Genres: Adventure: Minas Tirith · ID: 38
Reviewer: Mews1945 · 2007-06-21 20:19:50
An exciting tale that takes place after the quest, when Frodo and Pippin, on their own in the Citadel, decide to explore the Archives. Led by curiosity, they go even deeper, into an old underground section, where they find many ancient scrolls, including one with Isildur's account of the taking of the Ring, and the inscription on the band. Accidentally locked into the ancient place, with creeping dangers surrounding them, the two hobbits must make the best of their situation and keep themselves alive and unharmed until their friends can come to find them. There are humour and cousinly banter, thrills and supsense, and loving h/c in this story, and a very satisfying conclusion.

Title: Mistaken · Author: Fawsley · Genres: Humor: Drabble · ID: 490
Reviewer: Elen Kortirion · 2007-06-22 02:19:34
This drabble so simply, yet so effectively conjures up this scene which we all know, but Fawsley spins it around, turns it on its head and makes it into a small, beautifully polished gem of understated comedy. There is no setting, no 'he said...', but it works so well, because be we book fans or movie fans - we can all visualise the exchange - and smile.

Title: A Moment Lost · Author: Fawsley · Races: Men: Gondor Drabble · ID: 491
Reviewer: Elen Kortirion · 2007-06-22 02:26:45
The tone of this drabble is just right; that quiet, slightly rueful introspection from someone who perhaps undervalues himself, but actually has all the strength of character that's needed. And it has such a great final line! So economically written, without frills yet so telling in its affirmation of Aragorn's kingship in spite of his personal doubts.

Title: Returning the Favor · Author: cpsings4him · Races: Hobbits: Post-Ring War · ID: 340
Reviewer: Mews1945 · 2007-06-22 20:23:28
This story reveals a Pippin who is quite different from the little Pip who started the quest with his cousins and Sam. More mature and thoughtful, he comes to bring something beautiful to Frodo in Minas Tirith, but, finding him sleeping, he lingers to watch over Frodo and to contemplate the ways in which the quest has also changed Frodo. He recalls happier days, when they were both young, and perhaps he grieves for those days, but his deepest feeling is gratitude that Frodo remains with them. The story is full of love and tendeness and gentle regret for what might have been.

Title: An Unexpected Party · Author: Branwyn · Genres: Humor: Drabble · ID: 16
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2007-06-23 04:32:10
Oi, this was entirely too funny! We know Tolkien was not fond of diminutive Elves, but neither was he fond, I believe, of Dwarves who had not enough dignity to manage being terrible or frightening, no matter how much they might otherwise appear as irritable and somewhat pompous bumblers at times. Disney Dwarves really should be anathema, and here we have poor Thorin stuck in a roomful of cartoon bumblers, forced to hear them out as they apply for the position of companions on the quest for Erebor.

The idea that Gandalf put Snow White's hapless crew up to this just makes it better, though I suppose Branwyn might have meant that Gandalf was instrumental in getting this quest off the ground, hence anything that goes wrong-ish on the way to Erebor, including ridiculously unqualified companions, is in some way the wizard's fault.

Short, sweet, and funny – this is for anyone to enjoy!

Title: Wings · Author: ErinRua · Genres: Romance: With Rohirrim · ID: 9
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2007-06-25 02:28:19
["Wings"] is a sweet vignette, a nice scene between Eomer and his future father-in-law. Eomer's sincerity and wonder are clearly portrayed, as is Imrahil's appreciation of these qualities in his soon-to-be son-in-law. What I loved best, though, were the descriptions of the landscape, and the sense of the continuity of the sea and the plains of Rohan – their mutual airiness and freedom that Eomer finds and adores in his beloved, though it took a journey to Dol Amroth for him to realize what it was about Lothiriel that he responds to.

Title: No Man's Child · Author: Anoriath · Genres: Alternate Universe: Incomplete · ID: 198
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2007-06-25 02:59:44
Being the shameless Aragorn groupie that I am, a story that proposes to test what happens when Estel fails of hope and marries a woman of the Dúnedain in order to preserve the line of Isildur is of course going to get my attention. It's a theme I've explored in different ways, but I've never aimed to do something 'irreversible,' as it were: I've never tried to think out what would happen if Aragorn deliberately chose not to marry Arwen. Fortunately, I will never have to now, thanks to Anoriath.

The title, ["No Man's Child"], is also its basic premise, which is sort of like "no man born of woman shall slay MacBeth" or "No living man" prophecies: it is not to be taken literally, as we see in the prologue, where we learn why Nienelen is 'no man's child' (anymore). So we know immediately, if the first-person perspective didn't give it away, who will be chosen as Aragorn's bride. Despite this, there was a bit of a red herring thrown in with Halbarad, which worked well in context.

Anoriath brings to this story a detailed account of life in the Angle – the tone and style fit the perspective of someone immersed in a feudal economy. There are dynastic obligations, household obligations that go far beyond the nuclear family I think many of us (me too!) tend to write, tithes to keep track of, fields and grain-yield calculations, the need to pay attention to seasons, husbandry, trade, and of course, politics. Anoriath builds up a rich picture of life in a quasi-Mediaeval, rural setting, and her characters move in it as easily as they breathe. As a city-dweller, I appreciate the ability to bring that setting to life without it seeming labored.

But if the characters move in their setting naturally, this is not the same as saying there is no struggle to cope with the world as it presents itself. Nienelen is thrown into the role of Lady of the Angle, and must fulfil the obligations of caring for the people of the Angle, and find her allies among the women and certain of the men, even as she struggles to deal with a marriage that she knows is not a love-match at all, but a feudal obligation. Worse, she knows full well that there is someone Aragorn loves still, but about whom he will not speak.

The relationship between Aragorn and Nienelen is presented as respectful, good-humored, tinged with sadness, but also extremely formal, which I found striking: Nienelen never calls Aragorn by his name or any endearment. He is her lord, and she thinks of him as such; likewise, I think Aragorn calls her by her name only once or twice throughout, and only in rather late chapters comes up with something like a pet name for her. Otherwise, she is his lady, and he calls her as such. Theirs is a match mediated by ritual, courtesy, and affection, but they both love someone out of reach. Getting children on Nienelen is a chore – one that has its pleasant side, granted, but sex, and especially a sexual expression of affection, is clearly an issue:

["Should I brush my fingers upon the lids of his eyes and down the line of his nose, or press a kiss to the corner of his mouth where lip and cheek meet, what would my lord make of it? Aye, in taking me to bed, I was reminded naught so much as his first act as my husband, when, despite the pain it cost him, he stood between me and the threat of flame. Should he have the power to prevent it, he would ne'er allow pain or fear to threaten me. Could I do no less for him? Should I not burden him with a yearning he had not wished from me?"]

And then there is the devastating reunion episode, where after they end up joking with each other, there is an accidental reference to the Beren-Luthien episode that sobers them both and leads to this line:

["When the task is done, and he stands before me wound in a sheet, his hair dripping onto his shoulders and his skin flushed and warm, my lord leans to me and presses his lips upon my cheek. It is a chaste kiss, rich in affection and dismissal."]

Anoriath doesn't overplay these moments; they unfold quietly and naturally, so one feels like an intruder on an intimate scene, but also feels the break in that intimacy, the way in which this is simply not what either Aragorn or Nienelen hoped for.

Aragorn throughout maintains a robust sense of humor about their situation, and treats Nienelen with all the kindness and respect one could ask, given the way men and women interact in the society Anoriath has built up. He makes her his partner and his friend, and the mother of his children, and even his lieutenant, in a way – she is his eyes and ears and representative in the Angle when he is away on his frequent long journeys. He teases her and tries to make the best of the marriage, including some hysterical, half-serious jokes touching on their own need to have children – he does as Gandalf advises, and tries not to continue looking over his shoulder at the road not taken. This doesn't mean he doesn't have his regrets that fundamentally shape his relationship with his wife.

The story is not yet finished, so are left waiting to see where Anoriath will take us with the next chapter. We're getting closer to the events of LOTR, which, I imagine, may be where the choice for amdir, hope grounded in the world, instead of estel, hope that transcends all grounds the world may or may not furnish for it, may become important.

Dúnedain fanciers should definitely give this one a try!

Title: The Harper · Author: juno_magic · Times: Fourth Age and Beyond: Gondor or Rohan · ID: 10
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2007-06-25 03:21:58
Juno Magic has a uniquely dialogical way of telling a story – the interlocutor is present, asks questions, but we hear only one side of the conversation, which is put together by the respondant, who tells us, at stylistically appropriate intervals, what the other person has said. I enjoy the form in its own right, following the speaker over themes and time.

The harper for the royal house of Rohan tells of his (I assume) coming to the world 'down below,' the flatlands beneath the high, lonely mountain village where he was born. It is the coming of an old, blind, tormented bard to the village, after the Ring-war, that sparks a child's curiosity and courage. Of particular interest is the harper himself, rather than the songs he sings. For the blind old bard does not care for the songs themselves, and as the story unfolds, and we see more and more the bitter contempt, entwined with self-loathing, the bard has for the subject matter he sings of, and his reasons for it, one begins to think that there is more to this bard than is apparent. That perhaps he is someone we ought to know, though there is nothing so specific to his account of himself that would tip us off definitively.

But by the time the young prince of Rohan decides he knows who the bard was, the reader has probably come to a similar conclusion. It's very well done, and the mystery remains. Well done, Juno! Another lovely side-view on Middle-earth.

Title: The Spear of the Lily · Author: The Bookbinder's Daughter · Genres: Romance: Gondor · ID: 11
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2007-06-25 04:10:38
Evocative and poetically descriptive – there is an appropriate tenderness in the careful description of a husband deeply in love with his wife, and eager to know her every look. The Bookbinder's Daughter shows us Eowyn come into her own, as it were – the lily in bloom, rather than dying of frost, as she puts it.




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