Comments on The Chief in a Village

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Thank you--I am very flattered!

There's more coming up--I haven't quite kept up with archiving, so there have been things written and posted to my blog on LiveJournal that I haven't managed to post here yet (not just the rest of this story, but a couple of shorter ones as well).

I hope you will enjoy those as well!

I'd somehow missed reading this on your LJ, but it's a treat to read here just as much. I've stayed up way past the time I'd intended because it captivated my attention so far that I forgot about the time, and don't think I'll go to bed before reading to the end of this.

I love all the minuscule details and psychological complexities that you've put into connection with the grander scale - diplomatic Maedhros, caustic Fëanor, Fingolfin's staid nature, Fingon's restlessness, the need for an heir and the reactions to Turgon and Aredhel's departure, it's (and I mean that in the best possible way!) like a fantastic layer cake of Noldorin psychology. I can't wait to read more! :D

Ah, and now that I've finally gotten around to reading the remaining chapters --- it's all so excellent, I'm afraid I can't even offer much intelligent commentary - but I enjoyed the fic immensely, the idea of the origin story that allows for Gil-galad being a (part-)Fingolfinian by blood (something that I hadn't realized how much I really cared for until I read your explanation) without being Fingon's son biologically... and then there is that last chapter, which is gut-wrenching in all the best possible ways.

Thank you so much for sharing it here. :)



Thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoyed the rest of the story!

I have to confess that this version of Gil-galad's parentage is rather a case of having one's cake and eating it! But it also embodies something I have felt about Gil-galad, that in some ways he is very Fingolfinian but at the same time, somehow, an outsider among the Finweans. Of course, that could just be due to his later biography, but I have preferred here to imagine it was an element that was there from the start.

It is a rather improbable plot as such, of course, but I worked quite hard  to make it psychologically plausible, so I'm very pleased that that seems to have worked!

I wonder if I commented on this on your LJ. I remember it quite well. I would wish that I had thought of this idea myself, but then I would not have been able to write an OFC of whom I have grown quite fond. Also, no Maedhros and Fingon threesomes either. OK. I'm very happy he is not Orodreth's son (does that guy even really exist he feels like he got dropped into the story half-formed?). Recently Keiliss wrote something about Orodreth that made him feel like more of real character than he had before.

All that aside. It's a clever idea. It is such a fun and lovely story. I just wish it were longer and a lot more fleshed out. I am horribly greedy that way! My favorite segment is the last actually. Ah, Maedhros! Ah, Himring--you are breaking my heart with that last line!



Thank you very much, Oshun! You did comment on LJ. I'm happy you liked the story enough to read it again!

By my standards, this story is long and was a major effort! But I got a similar comment from Keiliss, I believe. Of course, you are both of you actually capable of writing novels, something that I can only admire. I think the Maedhros series by now has reached the word count of a short novel, but of course it isn't one.

Thank you very much!

I'm glad you like little Gil here and enjoyed my attempts at introducing a bit of comedy among all the grimness!

I think Gil-galad would eventually find out--it may not be possible to keep such a secret among Elves for ever--but Fingon would have had no real chance of telling him before he died, so I'm not entirely sure Gil found out while he was still alive in Middle-earth.

I'm glad you like Gil-galad's response!  

Even humans find their pets' lives wrenchingly short, although they are themselves brief as a candle flame to elves (or whatever that comparison in the Athrabeth was).

Tolkien has neatly dodged this issue, for the most part, for the horses he names: Shadowfax, Asfaloth, etc.

Thank you for reading and commenting!

 

I remember that I had planned on reading this story a long time ago, but then my last computer crashed, I lost my bookmarks, and I spent the last two years not remembering to come back to this website. In the meantime, you've completed the story.

What can I say that hasn't already been said? I really just love reading the stories you write, because you always write so beautifully. There is a visceral, physical feeling that I get while reading your prose that I'd describe as being caressed by a plethora of soft, light silks. I love that, even when you write from a character's perspective, you don't immediately allow that character to completely understand or form an opinion about their deepest thoughts--that you allow for their brains to process until the story or journey is near completion or some key experience or observation suddenly provides a revelation that results organically from the process of navigating thier story.

Also, you never seem to run out of new and interesting ideas or takes on the material. =-)



Thank you so much!

Those comments of yours really made my week, although I've been unable to respond until now.

So good to hear that you are still enjoying my writing, two years later!

The computer crash sounds bad. I hope you didn't lose other things more important than your SWG bookmarks!