West, West Away by Arveldis  

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Fanwork Notes

Fanwork Information

Summary:

It was the Elvenking. He gazed at the disappearing haven and the encircling hills with a strange, sorrowful expression upon his face, as if he felt the same uncomfortable tug of uprooting that Sam did, feeling as if he had been removed from his familiar soil and planted somewhere he didn’t belong, at least not yet.

Sam watched him, feeling like he was intruding on a private moment, but he couldn’t look away. It was strange to think that a king of the Elves might feel as displaced and torn as he did, but Sam felt suddenly in that moment that he understood the Elvenking, high and lordly though he was.

Sam meets an unlikely kindred spirit on the journey West.

Canon Source: Lord of the Rings

Major Characters: Samwise Gamgee, Thranduil

Major Relationships: Samwise Gamgee & Thranduil

Genre: General

Challenges:

Rating: General

Warnings:

This fanwork belongs to the series

Periannath a Edhelrim
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 3, 654
Posted on Updated on

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West, West Away

Written for Tolkien Gen Week Day 7: Freeform

(An expansion of this ficlet I wrote earlier this year for the Three Sentence Ficathon on Dreamwidth.)

Comments on West, West Away

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Realised while going through your SWG fics that I never got round to reading this one, so here we go!

Was not expecting the Elladan and Elrohir reference but I'm so glad! I love them and am so glad whenever fics remember them like this!

Sam thinking of his children in terms of scattered seeds feels so true to him, and all his musings on his kids and Rosie and leaving Bag End brought a tear to my eye!

The description of Thranduil is just perfect. I love the idea that something of the Greenwood lives in Thranduil and the way that his speech conjures visions of it to Sam's mind is a fantastic way of portraying that.

And Thranduil being a little bemused but very much interested in what this hobbit has to say is wonderful, I will never tire of elves meeting hobbits and being enthralled by what they're getting.

'“He’s loyal, too, sir—the most loyal Elf I’ve ever known.” He hadn’t known many Elves at all, but he thought that was best left unsaid.' - Oh, Sam. Also very real, very me when I'm trying to comfort someone with minimal relevant experience.

'“Every home I have ever known has been ruined,” the Elvenking said softly, looking still toward the east.' - TT_TT oh Thranduil. Never over everything he went through and survived. And his description of the fate of Doriath holds so much history and tragedy and that very specific sense of loss that infuses so much of the Legendarium, that greatness that is lost with nothing but ruins to remind us of it.

The mingled sadness and hope, loss and joy, that image of destroyed things being renewed again if we aren't around to see it, it's all so very Tolkien and I love it. This fic has such a powerful sense of atmosphere, the sun setting into the sea very much comes to mind, that heavy sense of sadness and time marching on but also the good that comes with the same. Thank you so much for sharing this, it's going to stay with me for a while!