What a beautiful concept! Not merely to cleanse the barrows of the evil wights, but to offer the wights a chance at redemption! I love the way you brought in the cicadas from your earlier stories-- an apt metaphor.
I also liked that a few did not accept the chance-- that made it seem more like a genuine choice they were offered, a choice as individuals and not just an anonymous group. The comparison to the Oathbreakers was good, and that indeed offers a precedent.
(BTW, would you please edit, and add the title and your name to the subject line?)
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Barbara. Once I saw my element, I could only imagine it being uttered within Middle Earth by Bombadil, and the whole story of how it was that Aragorn might have freed the Barrow-downs of the wights fell together. Not banishment, but fulfillment, as happened with the Oathbrakers. A transformation back to what they were intended to be
( ... )
What a marvelous story! I love the idea of the Renewer freeing these grim and nearly-forgotten spirits, with the help of Tom, Frodo, and the hobbits. And how delightful to see Arwen and Goldberry together. Such a hope-filled and creative tale! Well done.
Oh, thank you so much, Shirebound! Yes, who better than the Healer and Renewer for helping even these to find healing and renewal? And I couldn't wait to see how Arwen and Goldberry would get along--I was certain with a good deal of pleasure.
Oh, this is such a beautiful tale of redemption and Light and Dark. I especially enjoyed the scenes with Bombadil; how well you caught him within the confines of your words!
Oh, I'm so pleased! I love Tom Bombadil and working him in when I can; and I wanted so to find a creative manner in which the wights might have been cleansed (at least mostly) from the Barrow-downs. And how better than by being given the chance to return to their beginnings?
Oh, goodness! It's been quite some time since I've read something I've liked so much as this. Your style in the first half captured Tom Bombadil's essence wonderfully, especially in lines like "hied himself off to his wife’s embrace" and "Aulendil is gone, his golden soul-trap with him." And then, the very concept of what Aragorn set out to to with the aid of his wife and the Hobbits was so lovely. The integration of the pupae was a nice element, too.
I found the problem of cleansing the Barrow-downs more troubling than the idea of doing so to the Dead Marshes or dealing with the Army of the Dead. The Oathbreakers Tolkien solved himself--they needed but to fulfill those ancient oaths to the heir to Isildur, and they might then be free at last to accept their deaths and step beyond the Bounds of Arda to find the fate of mortals. With the Dead Marshes, those caught in their bounds simply needed to be freed to hear and heed the call of Mandos and they would take care of the problem themselves.
But we must assume that the Wights were evil spirits, some perhaps the ghosts of Men or Elves or other such creatures who'd refused to leave where they'd lived who were then herded or lured into the Barrow-downs by the Witch-king; and others perhaps various of the Maiar who'd been led astray by Melkor and/or Sauron and others of Melkor's minions who were caught deformed in fanar and fëar by means of their corruption. For them, the return to what they'd been intended to be must have come only
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Oh, I'm so glad that you feel that way, too, CW. Yes, a few I think would wish to remain just to keep their still-corrupt fellows in line. Thank you so! (And LOVE the icon this time! So appropriate!)
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I also liked that a few did not accept the chance-- that made it seem more like a genuine choice they were offered, a choice as individuals and not just an anonymous group. The comparison to the Oathbreakers was good, and that indeed offers a precedent.
(BTW, would you please edit, and add the title and your name to the subject line?)
ETA: And Thank You! It's a lovely birthday gift!
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It was a delight, a pleasure, to read.
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Thank you so much, Someplace.
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I always enjoy reading stories with Tom and you just wrote him as being so ... so ... him, I was very thrilled!
Thank you, Larner!
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But we must assume that the Wights were evil spirits, some perhaps the ghosts of Men or Elves or other such creatures who'd refused to leave where they'd lived who were then herded or lured into the Barrow-downs by the Witch-king; and others perhaps various of the Maiar who'd been led astray by Melkor and/or Sauron and others of Melkor's minions who were caught deformed in fanar and fëar by means of their corruption. For them, the return to what they'd been intended to be must have come only ( ... )
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