Beautifully written but very sad. :( I appreciated your author's notes and your research. :)

Was reading this 6+ years after it was written, and it's still good. Mostly because I was reading for the Gondolin RPG. Then I was chatting to Amrod about love. Then I started thinking of my own love that, of course, I'll never talk about. Then I read about it and the memories all flood back. There's a reason I'm the way I am. Suspect my character was forged pretty strongly by you way back. A pity you're too busy to get involved in the Feanorian fun.

Great writing. Very thoughtfully plotted. Love the ambiguity of Haleth's age. My Valar, she could be 60, and it would still be love of the spirit. Flows beautifully.

I was looking for a nice feel-good romance to read tonight, and this story doesn't fit that criteria, I don't think, but, guh. I clicked on the link, and I don't regret it - although it's just made me terribly depressed!

This was just so sad and beautiful and I admit that I was tearing my hair out and wanting to throttle Haleth at the end of it, because I just felt so badly for Caranthir - but then, she wouldn't have been the Haleth he fell in love with, if she chose to follow him back to Thargelion...

You've brought such amazing life to this pairing that's just subtext, really... am perhaps a bit too melancholy to word a proper review here. Poor Caranthir, poor Haleth - and poor Meril.

I love how Caranthir, despite his haughtiness, is still capable of the famed Elven compassion in his treatment of Haleth - who in turn has her own guarded vulnerabilities. It was touching when they came together, and when they parted - in that respect, I did wonder what went through Haleth's mind when she "rid" herself of Caranthir. Having re-read the prologue, however, I see you've given us enough hints there...

Your writings have never failed to awe and inspire me - thank you for sharing with us!

(and, also, am hoping this review is not too odd, given that you posted this fic some years ago!)

I adore this story with every fibre of my being

This is one of the sweetest, saddest and well written stories i've ever read on this site.

Bravo! You make it easy to see, in the believiable clarity of Caranthir’s observations of the Haladin, of how is opinion changed, and more importantly why it changed.

There are firm sparks, if you can imagine such a thing, that are strong and vibrant between the elf-lord and the Lady Haleth!

Nicely done!

You have crafted this interaction, these impressions, quite well and the way you changed tone and the narrative was smooth and seamless.

This is amazing and I am moved by the words and the depair in Caranthir’s tone as he thinks of Haleth and the dialogue that went between the two!

This is completely inspiring to me - I wish that I had read when I was trying to pinpoint this Caranthir character! I’m completely enamoured with him now - thanks to you! *squels unaccusomley - completely out of character for self - with delight* ;-)

Another note, you have portrayed the essence of the Eldar seeing the beauty of the fea as compared to mortal men, who often dismiss it.

What a delightfully angsty love story!

…have I mentioned I am completely moved by this yet…

My stomatch is full of butterflies and anticipation!

This is my all-time favorite story! I cannot believe I have found such a wonderful portrayal of a believable romance between Haleth and Caranthir and a reason why they must keep their hot, burning love secret!

I am beyond impressed and indebted to you for sharing such a lovely story with the wide world!

Amazing...I love it!

Great! I like this fic very much!

I cannot begin to tell you how vivid, refreshing, brilliant and moving this story is. I NEVER expected to be crying over Caranthir,and I hadn't given much thought to Haleth. Yet another of your stories has truly brought the Silmarillion to life for me, and I don't know how to thank you.

I can't tell how happy I'm to find a Haleth/Caranthir story! Ever since I read the Silmarillion years ago, I always though about them...

This is truly one of the best (if not the best) Tolkien's fic I've read.

You have made Caranthir stay IC without destroying his pride as a son of Fëanor.

Someday I'll write about them too... But in spanish (my native language). You have inspired me, thank you.

Ithilwen, you have taken one of my least favoured characters from the Silmarillion and turned him into a sympathetic character.

Thank-you.

This is such a incredible story. It's beautiful and well-written and quite powerful. I love how you portrayed Caranthir’s thoughts and feelings for Haleth; they were very real and often tragic. This is one of the best Silmarillion romance fics I've read!

~Madeleine

This was so beautiful. I like your choice of narrating things from Caranthir's point of view. Not only do you give us insights from his own mind and character, but you also show us so much of the human nature from an outsider's perspective! I "inwardly winced" as I re-realized the frailty of human life. For the first time I think I understood how it is that the Eldar see us aftercomers.

You write a wonderful Caranthir. So proud! Very feanorian. I like how he does not understand his emotions very well, and even though he can be rash and impulsive he takes time to think and go over his actions in a calmer way. Your references to fire are very appropriate, for indeed it is fire that drives this people. I loved it when he talked about his kin meaning only "feanorians" That phrase delves so deeply into his thoughts and true feelings!

Again, your use of detail is stunning: "But your eyes were a wonder - full of fire, they seemed, and colored quite unlike the sea-grey eyes of my people, a rich deep brown never seen among the Eldar." You conveyed so much by saying that! You stated differences between the eldar and the second-born; you let us know there is something uncommon in Haleth, some strength that Caranthir sees as a fire, and in this way you have also shown his own character by his valuing strength of will above other qualities such as beauty.

I very much liked your beginning. The contrast between the mirthful preparations for the feast and Caranthir's own sorrow... amazing! This is one of the saddest days of his life. Why? What is going to happen? My curiosity has stretched to the utmost. This was beautiful!

This is a striking beginning! And yet so subtle... very artful. You present a young Haleth, and in spite of her young age she already gives signs of a strong personality and wise views of the world which led her to become a leader in the future. The very situation in which you've placed her in this chapter is a proof of the kind of things that she can endure. You have also shown very clearly the life she leads and the social issues that those of her time faced by adding details that describe those things. For instance "one of her people apparently needed her help. A woman in labor, perhaps, or a child with the coughing sickness." This sentence set me in the mood right away! Even as to the weather...

I also like and appreciate your use of language and words. An example of this is "Since your last flow," or "two moons"... things like that help the readers grasp the time period and get inside the story, not just go over it. I loved this!

This is a wonderful beginning, sort of an omen or foreshadowing of the fate of this girl. It was all very interesting. Even when you say that she is plain, and considered by some as ugly, you have clearly defined that this is a different kind of romance. Very good!

This story is so excellent. I'm so glad to see that Caranthir, the biggest meanie of them all, finally fall in love - so sweetly and sadly.

The romance was so tragic, yet it probably still gave a lot to both Haleth and Caranthir. And as sad as the ending was, I guess it couldn't have been otherwise. Haleth would have to choose her people, just as Caranthir chose his. Inevitable, yet I couldn't help wishing otherwise.

Oh wow... I can't believe I haven't reviewed this yet. Finally, a romance fic without even a hint of the Dreaded Bane of Fan Fiction that I will not name. This story actually made me cry, I don't think any other fic has done that yet for me. Beautifully done, as are all your writings. Thank you!