Like Egalmoth, my eyes may have glistened once or twice while reading this. He might be my favorite of your characters (Tolkien gets credit for his excellent dress sense, but not much else), and seeing him so changed--but also not--is heart-breaking and heartening all at the same time. Every time you mention his wry smile, I can't help but picture him as he was in Gondolin, smiling wryly over his own terrible pick-up lines, or other people's bad poetry...
His description of the balrog battle is riveting. It's characteristically flashy (he notices the changing color of Glorfindel's armor!) and also missing enough details to be a plausible first-hand account. And of course it is Egalmoth who inspires Orneredh to go the extra mile and add yellow flowers.
Your Orneredh legend is wonderfully inventive. I love the idea of the Noldor (who think they know so much about Middle-earth, just because a few of them talked to the Valar a few times) swapping myths they don't realize are true!
I also love the nature (ha ha) of Orneredh's mission: I am sure she must have been very impressive to begin with, if she was one of Yavanna's handmaidens, but her divinely inspired dream is not about any traditional kind of glory--not even the glory of the peaceful, prosperous realms that Finrod and Turgon were tasked with building. It is so small-scale, but so important--and now I wonder what other behind-the-scenes gestures the Valar might have made, unnoticed.
In short, I loved this, and will definitely read it again.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2014-03-27 04:11 am (UTC)His description of the balrog battle is riveting. It's characteristically flashy (he notices the changing color of Glorfindel's armor!) and also missing enough details to be a plausible first-hand account. And of course it is Egalmoth who inspires Orneredh to go the extra mile and add yellow flowers.
Your Orneredh legend is wonderfully inventive. I love the idea of the Noldor (who think they know so much about Middle-earth, just because a few of them talked to the Valar a few times) swapping myths they don't realize are true!
I also love the nature (ha ha) of Orneredh's mission: I am sure she must have been very impressive to begin with, if she was one of Yavanna's handmaidens, but her divinely inspired dream is not about any traditional kind of glory--not even the glory of the peaceful, prosperous realms that Finrod and Turgon were tasked with building. It is so small-scale, but so important--and now I wonder what other behind-the-scenes gestures the Valar might have made, unnoticed.
In short, I loved this, and will definitely read it again.