Friends of Nimrodel: Tapestry of Dreams - Discussion

[Aylwen Dreamsong]

Aylwen, would you like to do a post for Bella with her reactions to the fight before I do one?

Oops! Sorry I wasn't home in time to put up a post. Back to school again. That's fine that you did though, no complaints here. I'll get another post up tonight.

-Aylwen

[littlemanpoet]

I have been trying very hard to present Ædegard as a true Rohirrim with Rohirric sensibilities. The Rohirrim were modeled after the Anglo-Saxons from the middle ages, before 1066 (the date of the Norman Conquest). Honor and blood loyalty were core beliefs.

Now, we moderns think like moderns. No duh, eh? And therefore it comes as no surprise that Leafa and Liornung, especially, but also Bellyn, think like moderns instead of like Rohirrim and Gondorians of Middle Earth.

This is why I'm having Ædegard speak in the way he is to Leafa, who, for all her Rohirric looks and name, sounds to Ædegard nothing like what he would expect a Rohirric girl to sound like. To his mind, he half wonders if Leafa has been too much under the influence of the Easterlings, but he has to reject that notion, because it does not account for why Liornung and Bellyn think the same way. There is no such thing as a new fad or style in Gondor and Rohan - so he can't fathom that something has perhaps come down from the courts. The only conclusion that he might draw is that this new way of thinking comes from the Elves by way of the King in Minas Tirith, who had much to do with Elves.

Okay, yeah, I've had a lot of education to help me along, compared to some of you who aren't out of high school yet - and might I add that you're all doing quite admirably for all that and it ain't your fault that you don't have so many years under your - um - belt *ahem* (not to mention a few extra pounds) - but I'd like to encourage us toward one additional thing:

Immerse yourselves not only in your own characters and all the connections between characters, but into the culture of the time and place your characters inhabit.

It means forcing yourself to think in other ways than you're used to. And that's a really powerful tool for writing! Oh, and keep having fun with it, eh?

[mark12_30]

In the morning (my time) or in a few minutes (game time), once an elf comes by to translate for them, Nethwador will be able to clarify that part of his anger was due to Ædegard's rejection of him-- but the other half of the anger was, that Ædegard made the quiet, gentle Wayfarer-girl cry.

Loyalty to the Wayfarers! Bad Ædegard!

And if he ever makes Bella cry, Nethwador just might bite him.

See y'all in the morning.,.. zzzzzzzzzzzz

[alaklondewen]

Elves...that would be me. I truly apologize for my unexpected disappearance. What I anticipated to be a smooth move to a new city (internet access included) wasn't as quick as I thought, so I've been access-less for some time. Please forgive me.

I am still catching up on reading (fantastic writing that always has me on the edge of my seat!). I will get a post up as soon as I can. My fingers are itching to write, so I hope it's very soon.

[mark12_30]

Helo Tapestry Team,

My mom is in the hospital after a surgery. It was successful, she is recovering (slowly). I am going up to help out for the rest of the weekend. Please popst like blazes as the Spirit mmoves you...

Please pray for my mom's swift & complete recovery, and please, continue to pray for lmp.

Love to all, and see you Tuesday or so! God bless.

--Helen

[Nurumaiel]

lmp,
I'm a little confused. Are you trying to explain your reasons for presenting Ædegard in a way that might make him appear 'cruel,' or am I do something wrong with my characters?

The way Ædegard is acting about the whole thing makes perfect sense; the way Liornung and Leafa are acting is a little confusing, and I had to think for awhile to figure out how they would act. Neither of my characters are as truly Rohirric as Ædegard, and for reasons, as well.

Leafa was raised by a father who was not very much 'into,' as you might say, his culture, and by a mother who was too meek to speak up against his ideas. Leafa met many kinds of different people and saw them all treated just as a Rohirric, and she was a Wayfarer for a little while. This combined with her naturally rather timid and gentle nature, she can't understand the concept of 'blood-guilt.'

Liornung was raised in a stricter Rohirric sense, but without lengthy explanation I can just say that working as a travelling bard in many different lands, he lost some aspects of the Rohirric nature as far as 'outsiders' are concerned. He can understand the concept of 'blood-guilt,' but he doesn't agree with it (anymore; 'twould be interesting to write of Liornung's earlier life before he took to the road).

There, my little clarification.

[littlemanpoet]

You're not doing anything wrong at all, Nuru. Sorry to lead you to think so - didn't mean to do that. Or maybe I did, but stand corrected. Yeah, that's probably more like it. You're right. Leafa, having been a wayfarer, would have had a non-Rohirric experience, which would lead her not to think the way Ædegard would; and Liornung, a traveler, would have adjusted his way of thinking to account for all the differences he has seen in his travels. The same kind of thing happened to the crusaders in the Middle Ages. They left Europe to fight the infidel..... they came back changed by their experiences, with a broader perspective. So yes.

On....the....other hand, there is still my point about modernistic ways of thought, in which in terms of the individual is automatically the way we think. It's not that people from the middle ages didn't realize they were individuals, but saw themselves as part of a whole; so much so that to be cut off from family and community was like being condemned to death. These days it just as often means "freedom". I hope that makes more sense.