Henneth Annûn Story Archive

Thanks, G.A.

I have combined v1.1 & v1.2 ---> moved Guran's narrative, verbatim but with additions, to the end.  I will mull it over, and upload it in the next couple days (I hope).

I appreciate your time, comments and encouragement!

DG

Thank you, Lynx of Isengard, for reading and commenting on my various little tales!  I'm so glad you like them.  *thinks* I don't believe there's much bloodshed in my tales--I'm a bit squeamish that way!  If you like tales involving Dwarves, check out Adaneth's stories: start with Rock and Hawk.  About Snow-white and Rose-red, heh, I took some left turns away from that, right?

Hi DrummerWench, it's Tilly from Mark Reads.

These are diverse and lovely! After the one you linked to I read them all. They're not only fun in their own right, but also from picking out the influences and admiring the way you put them all together and transform them. I especially loved "The Swans"; it's like the expanded origin myth I always wanted for the house of Dol Amroth but could never articulate for myself. 

Thank you, Leonora, for your kind and thoughtful comments!  I'm so happy you read and enjoyed my stories, and that you liked the way I play with the fairy tale tropes and traditions.  I was going to post a link to "The Swans" during --- where Legolas sings about Nimrodel, but got busy, etc.  Maybe when we meet Prince Imrahil I'll have another chance ...

My goodness - a tale that ends happily in Middle-earth with no bloodshed? What is the world coming to?

Actually, I'm quite fond of the Spiderwebs tale. It's just the sort of tale that my inner Hobbit child delights in reading. Good show!

Hi, DG!

You nailed it this time. A perfect folk tale of Middle-earth.

Gandalfs apprentice 

Thanks again, G.A.!

I really appreciated your comments - without them, I'd have left it at v1.0.

Next up - a Hobbit tale: "The Lady in the River".  Hope I get it figured out soon.

DG

Each story seems better than the one before!

"Then, there glided in the last rays of the setting sun the ugliest bird ever seen."  This line was profoundly funny, coming when it did, but profoundly uplifting at the same time.  A moment's free-fall followed by a sudden surge on an updraft.

I'm glad he kept the feathers.

Thanks, lauderdale, for reading through the Tales & for commenting! I'm glad you appreciate the humor--it's always a part of life, after all; you can't be serious all the time.

This is a delightful tale, setting out the origin of the Beornings. Tolkien would have greatly approved--you have extended the mythology. Thank you!

This is your best yet! I LOVE it! So hobbit-like to have the birds and beasts as helpers, and for food to have the last line. Of course, the River Lady is Goldberry. That the Shire would have legends about her is only to be expected. I do hope Tom finds her.....

Gandalfs apprentice 

Thanks, GA!  I'm so glad you like it.  As soon as I thought of the last line, I knew it was right. :-)

 I do hope Tom finds her.....

Oh, I think she'll find Tom!

DW

Yet again you have answered one of the great unanswered riddles of Middle-Earth: How did the Dwarves awaken the darkness in Moria? Kudos.

G.A. 

Thanks, G.A.!  I really appreciate your support.

I'm not sure the next couple tales will answer any great unanswered questions...

DW

In the vernacular of children these days: oh snap!

I must say, I haven't read any good Dwarf tales lately, or at all, for that matter. I feel like Orcs are more popular, and they're the villains! I much like this tale of the greedy Dwarf who woke the Balrog.

DrummerWench:

A lovely story of the origin of the Swan as the symbol of Dol Amroth! You have yet again perfectly melded a fairy tale to Middle-earth. The "high" language suits the tone of this romance.

I assume the Swan-maiden is Mithrellas?

Thanks for another delight! 

Hi, G.A.

Glad you liked it!  Yes, the "prologue" is Amroth & Nimrodel, of course, and the main story is Mithrellas and Imrazor.

Sometimes the "high" language just pops out, as if the story requires it.

Thanks for commenting.

DW

The judgment of a Solomon, eh? 

Nice one, DrummerWench!

Cheers--

Adaneth

I'm glad you liked it, Adaneth!  Heh, Solomon's wisdom is pretty recognizable, no?

Thanks for commenting!
DrummerWench

Lovely! Nice echoes of Luthien in the dancing, sleep song and riding on the Wolf.

At last we have a tale of the Elf ancestress of the Tooks.

Hullo, G.A.!
*hangs head over dilatory response to your comment*
Thank you so much!  I'm so glad you liked it.
It did turn out to be a bit of a mash-up between RL fairy tales & Tolkien mythology!

That was a most pleasant Middle-earth version of Snow-white and Red-rose. The ending was absolutely satisfying.

Very nice!  The way you incorporated the different places in Middle Earth was clever.

Hi, Whitewave!

Thank you for your enthusiastic comments.  I'm so glad you read and enjoyed my little tales!

Ah, DrummerWench, I really enjoyed this lovely tale!

Well done!

- Barbara

I have enjoyed all of your fairy tales of Middle-earth, and "Tree and Star" is a welcome addition to the collection: a tale "breathed through silver" that fits neatly in JRRT's Perilous Realm.

The prose is lovely and has the cadence of a tale told around a hearth.  The vivid imagery has a sensual earthy quality, quite fitting for a mythic figure connected to fertility and for the creative impulse that sweeps up her acolyte.  

Looking forward to more additions to this appealing series! 

Hi, Pan -
Whoops! Almost forgot to reply to your very appreciative comments!  Thanks for reading and especially for stopping to review!

>>The prose is lovely and has the cadence of a tale told around a hearth.

You know I strive for exactly that sense with the series--the Oral History feeling--good to know it works for you.  Ditto with the suggestion of fertility myths.

Thanks again, DW

I recognised lots of stuff here, all newly woven into a shining new tale.  I shall read this again at leisure, but thought I'd let you know I really enjoyed this.  Garandir wants a good slapping though, having brought it all on himself.

Thanks for reading & commenting, Freyalyn!

I recognised lots of stuff here, all newly woven into a shining new tale.

Bit of a mashup, with stuff from 1001 Nights to the Flying Dutchman, yes?

Garandir wants a good slapping though, having brought it all on himself.

That's the way it is in fairy tales--those who pay no heed to warnings get their comeuppance!  And I'm so glad you liked it!

I recognized the signs at once but hardly dared hope for what this turned out to be: a beautiful, perfectly lovely take on the old fairy tale (which I shall not name in a public review).  With some interesting changes: Iaurel never even tells his children about the Orc's counter-proposal of a "trade," which pleased me.  He is indeed a good father.  I was also made glad by the ending, "unlooked for and beyond hope," and found it refreshing that there was no physical transformation. 

At the same time, there is a degree of mercy in where you chose to end this story.  One inevitably wonders about the life that will follow for both characters, and for the children, who do not know of each other.  I want this to be a happy story, and not just a tragedy ended before it could become more tragic.  Iaurel and Gathnur have surely had enough of that!

Thanks so much, The Lauderdale, for your lovely and thoughtful review!  I'm glad you enjoyed it.

A transformation would be gratuitous and unlikely--whatever Morgoth did, it seems improbable that it could be undone all in a minute, if at all.

About ending where I did, um, yes, that is exactly why I stopped there.  If I started going down the road of "what happens next", it clearly would turn into a bigger, much different, tale.  I like to think they have the time and maturity to take it slow and figure it out bit by bit.

I came here through one of the Orc threads in the forum and so have only read this chapter so far. I definitely want to read more though! This was beautiful. I love how you twisted and transformed the fairy tale into something actually more meaningful than a girl falling in love with an enchanted prince. 

Shadowbride, Thank you so much for reading and commenting!  I really appreciate it. The tales are not all in this exact vein. You'll find they vary in mood and style, and not all are explicitly based on any particular tale.

I have no intelligent words for this; not a lick. So forgive me if I just babble. This is just a wonderful adaptation of one of my favourite fairy tales. And finding out who Gathnur truly was - stunning reveal!

Oh, jeez, Lynx!  I'm blushing at your enthusiasm!  Thank you so much for sharing your reaction with me.  I'm  happy that one of my favorites among my tales is touching people's emotions.  No writer can ask for more.