Lavender, what a beautiful, beautiful response to the piece. Thank you so much for your complex thoughts and the time you took to express them.
How great must have been Gandalf's admiration for this queen of two peoples upon receiving this entreaty.
Yes. And his love. These are two people who understand love and compassion: their burden, their gift. Think of Gandalf sponsoring Frodo as Ring-bearer. To think a hobbit the best in the Shire, to love him, yet let him go on a journey of sacrifice and probable personal ruin.... Should he save the one but let the rest fall? Or must he let that one go and do his appointed task, whatever the end, probably dark? Compassion and love, both gift and burden. Arwen, if she only intimates what will be her final experiences of mortal life, show how well she already knows the gift and burden of these feelings. The Elves can seem cold, hard in the tales, but never Arwen. A true heir of Luthien Tinuviel.
I think it's one of Jan's best, too, although there are many, many 'bests', it's hard to choose!
I hadn't thought about Philippa getting "Arwen's fate is tied to that of the Ring" from this. If not that, then the "What grace is given me, let it pass to him, let him be spared," what she said at the Ford. I know most viewers had a fit about the Ford because it took away yet another opportunity for Frodo to show what he was made of and capable of, but I thought that one moment had the ring of authenticity. Maybe because it referred back to this.
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How great must have been Gandalf's admiration for this queen of two peoples upon receiving this entreaty.
Yes. And his love. These are two people who understand love and compassion: their burden, their gift. Think of Gandalf sponsoring Frodo as Ring-bearer. To think a hobbit the best in the Shire, to love him, yet let him go on a journey of sacrifice and probable personal ruin.... Should he save the one but let the rest fall? Or must he let that one go and do his appointed task, whatever the end, probably dark? Compassion and love, both gift and burden. Arwen, if she only intimates what will be her final experiences of mortal life, show how well she already knows the gift and burden of these feelings. The Elves can seem cold, hard in the tales, but never Arwen. A true heir of Luthien Tinuviel.
I think it's one of Jan's best, too, although there are many, many 'bests', it's hard to choose!
I hadn't thought about Philippa getting "Arwen's fate is tied to that of the Ring" from this. If not that, then the "What grace is given me, let it pass to him, let him be spared," what she said at the Ford. I know most viewers had a fit about the Ford because it took away yet another opportunity for Frodo to show what he was made of and capable of, but I thought that one moment had the ring of authenticity. Maybe because it referred back to this.