Day 230: Touched by Frost

[tanaquiljall]

Written for sgafan, who deserved a drabble dedicated to her today.

Day 230



Touched by Frost

She had always felt... out of place. Like someone had accidentally woven a mismatched colour into a saddle-cloth. Like the single horse in the éored cantering on the wrong lead.

The duties of domestic drudge, chattel wife, mother of heirs trammelled her future. She would discharge faithfully the roles assigned, but they would chafe like an ill-fitting harness, bruise like a stone worked into the hoof.

For one moment, a man had looked at her with eyes she hoped saw more. But he could not offer what she needed. She must resign herself to the embrace of a different future.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

yay!!!

what a wonderful portrait of eowyn, imo one of tolkien's most haunting characters. i don't know any other stories that have a solemn woman warrior quite like her.

your first paragraph was especially compelling! i find it interesting that despite feeling completely out of place, she would be so loyal to rohan and to her family and in the book, she's practically an emblem of the fierce, solemn, honor-bound culture of rohan.

afriedman

[tanaquiljall]

Thanks! {{{hugs}}}

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

You capture Eowyn beautifully here.

[tanaquiljall]

Thank you, Linda. And I very much appreciate your comments, btw. Thanks for taking the time to let me know you appreciate my drabbles. {{{hugs}}}

[elena-tiriel.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is so sad! Poor Éowyn!

I love her equine similes, so apropos for one of the Rohirrim!

And *gazing about her living room* I can sooooo relate to not fitting into the role of domestic drudge.... ;-)

And she sounds so resigned to death at the end, not even looking forward to the (supposed) glory part of it.

Well done, Liz!
- Barbara

[tanaquiljall]

Well, as I wrote it for sgafan, I knew she'd appreciate the equine similes!

I can sooooo relate to not fitting into the role of domestic drudge....

LOLOL - do I need to remind you to take the recycling out when you feel up to it? {{{hugs}}}

Glad you liked the drabble!

[phyloxena.livejournal.com]

Brave, patient Eowyn.

[tanaquiljall]

Indeed!

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, Eowyn. I never thought of her as feeling so trapped and unhappy with her fate. You wrote it very well, with excellent similes and a resonating title that ties her chilly LotR persona to this one, and carries the bane of age, too. Nicely done!

Denise

[tanaquiljall]

Thanks, Denise. I enjoyed finding ways to express her feelings through the equestrian motifs, since they would be the kinds of similes Eowyn might use. (Plus sgafan is a great horsewoman, so I knew she would enjoy them too.)

[sgafan.livejournal.com]

Awww!! I love that!! Thank you so much ((HUGS))

[tanaquiljall]

You're welcome - glad you liked it. {{{hugs}}} I really enjoyed thinking about the horsey metaphors and how you'd appreciate it.

[telperion1.livejournal.com]

Somehow I missed this the first go-round, and am reading it now for the MEFAs.

I can't say better than everyone else already has, but I did want you to know how wonderfully characterized Eowyn is here. It's heartbreaking, of course, but also very in keeping with her and actually enhances her character a little - finding Faramir, and finally trusting him enough to be open with him, would be a bit like a eucatastrophe for her, I think.

[tanaquiljall]

Oooh, unexpected!bonus!comment! Yay! I really appreciate you taking the time to leave this one.

And I'm so glad to hear you liked the drabble and feel it ties in with/adds well to what Tolkien told us. Thanks!

(Also, I just love you for using the word eucatastrophe, since it's an awesome word in itself, as well as perfect for Faramir and Eowyn's story.)

[rakshathedemon.livejournal.com]

Just popping by here while doing MEFA reviews - another excellent Eowyn drabble. You can just feel her restlessness here, like a high-spirited filly confined to a corral.

[tanaquiljall]

Thanks! It was a fun challenge to find all the horse metaphors.

Hope your MEFA reviewing is going well! (I so need to start mine....)

[rakshathedemon.livejournal.com]

I've done 129 Final Reviews so far; and have more that are either Draft or Hidden...I'll be going on vacation soon, so I wanted to get a head start. My MEFA goal is 200; but I hope to do more than that...

[tanaquiljall]

*is impressed*

*still needs to start reviewing*

*sigh*

Hope you had a good vacation!

[blslarner.livejournal.com]

So accurate an image of Eowyn here!

[tanaquiljall]

Thank you!