Fic: Heart of the Wood

[kenazfiction]

Title: Heart of the Wood
Author: Kenaz
Email: Kenazfiction@gmail.com
Beta: Ignoblebard. Remaining mistakes are my own.
Rating: R
Pairing: Beleg/Túrin
Warnings: None.
Request: Something bittersweet. Try to include horses, swift-flowing water and birdsong.

Comments

[jaiden_s]

Lovely and certainly bittersweet. I enjoyed it very much.

[kenazfiction]

Thanks, Jai!

[hareatic]

Hi Kenaz! Yes, I am still around, still reading your fics and I shall endeavor to not over-gush. This was so deeply sad not because of the subject but because of your words. You weave such a lovely, moving tale that never fails to draw me in fully. So many instances but this sentence just blew me away.."For behind the sweetness on Túrin's tongue lay the bitter taste of the soil that would one day claim him, of the faint and inevitable promise of decay present from his first breath, of the shadow that would be his unmaking." It's like a song you hope will never end.

Thanks for another gift.

Hare...

[emeraldamber]

AAAAAAHHH!
I'm posting BEFORE reading it. I want to hug you, worship you, for writing this! It's so rare to find Beleg/Turin stories.
I'll comment as soon as I've read it.
:D

[kenazfiction]

Hee hee! Thanks for the enthusiasm! Hope you enjoy it! :D

[emeraldamber]

Hello!
Sorry for this delay.
Your story is magnificent! The language, the deep words, they made it so especial.
I also loved how well you pictured young Turin, full of prejudice and hard hearted.
However Beleg truly took my breath away. Sensitive, perhaps too gentle. The acceptance of his fate is so sad.
Beautiful work!

[elfscribe5]

Such gorgeous writing. I'm bowled over. The characterizations of both Turin and Beleg are excellent. I imagine Turin as an impetuous, emotional, somewhat immature human. And clearly Beleg is the wise elf, denying his own feelings because he knows what it will mean if he doesn't. The contrast in their personalities made for a good conflict. From the very opening, Turin comes in with the "air blustering behind him like a reproach," bent because they had a fight without him. I especially liked the following:The contrast between elf and human and the sadness here, denial of the heart's longing. So much of your language is like music. I want to read it aloud to feel how it rolls off the tongue. Beleg's elvishness, the song he sings to sharpen the sword. I haven't see that before but when I read it, it resonated as if it could be canon. Also the fact that he talks to the trees and hears sorrow in the stream, but then doesn't tell Turin what he has heard. Also liked the scene between Beleg and Dagnir and Turin's jealousy. Turin

[kenazfiction]

Wow, thanks so much for your kind words! I'm a bit abashed at the moment from all your generosity! *blush*

This piece was informed far more by Children of Hurin than by the Lays or the Silmarillion, and what I took away most from C of H, aside from Túrin's general "assholeiness" (or Hubris, if you prefer), is the way Tolkien so starkly differentiated between the Men and the Elves. It comes across in C of H far more than in his other writings, I think, so I wanted that to be carried on here. I'm glad you think I've been successful at that.

...the song he sings to sharpen the sword. I haven't see that before but when I read it, it resonated as if it could be canon.

Heh, that's because it *is* canon! :D See:The Lays of Beleriand, "The Lay of the Children of Hurin": "... Then sought his sword, and songs of magic o'er its eager edge with Elfin voice there Beleg murmured... There wondrous wove he the words of sharpness, and the names of of knives and Gnomish blades he uttered o'er it..." etc

[lady_elina]

Oh, this is gorgeous beyond words. I'm speechless. I cannot quote my favourite parts, because it's all so perfect. I still haven't read Children of Húrin, but Túrin has always stood out to me as one of the most interesting characters in The Silmarillion, because he's more of an anti-hero than a hero, something Tolkien rarely wrote.

I loved the characterisations here: Túrin's short-sighted hubris that brings about his eventual downfall and Beleg's devotion which shatters my heart into a billion pieces. You more than did justice to them. The final part just... broke me. That Beleg would still want to keep his memories of Túrin after all that happened is painfully true and just so right for the character

[kenazfiction]

ACK! That is what happens when I continue to edit things after I get them back from my beta. *sigh* Ah, well... they're fixed now

[chaotic_binky]

Such a sad and beautiful story. I am still letting the story run around my head and it can stay as long as it wants.

Hugs Binky x x x

[kenazfiction]

Thanks, Binky. There's something so magical about the First Age. The characters are so mythic, so magical...