Sadly, none of that terminology-Halfling, Westron-is actual Westron either. Read the appendices-Tolkien wrapped it all up in a big tangled linguistic bundle. The Sindarin and so on they give us the real words, but because he wanted to give us the hobbits' experience he supposedly translated every word over to a comparable Celtic or Anglo-Saxon root derivation. And whagarble.

For example, Merry's name was neither Meriadoc or Brandybuck. His name was /Kalimac/, called Kali. Kali meant something like 'cheerful,' so Tolkien back-hacked through that to name him Meriadoc. And Brandybuck is apparently a translation of a joke nickname for the actual family.

Halfling is definitely the wrong word to use. That's an English translation of the /Gondor/ rendering of a term related to their size. Hobbit is an elision of holbytla, 'hole-dwellers,' which is a Celtic 'translation' of the name the hobbits were called some hundreds of years before the time the story is set, and whatever that word is-I don't have my copy of RotK and its appendices to check-appeared in a few stories told by the Rohirrim.

Still, lots of reasonable...ness. I don't think the story can really stand without giving Maddie a lot more personal identifiers; I realize she's supposed to be an unprepossessing everywoman, but you've kept her trimmed down so hard shes actually hard to be interested in. Rather, she exists only within the time frame of the story, so she seems a little flat.

She hasn't any dreams that have been cut off or hobbies she can or cant continue practicing, no emotional bonds to people she misses fiercely, no personal point of view on vegetation or climate shaped by where she grew up. Nothing, or nearly. She has sprung full-grown from the brow of modern America. /Everybody/ had a childhood. She hasn't even compared anything to a specific /movie/ she saw, let alone made reference to particular actual events in her life. This makes her flimsy and unreal. The human is an animal that spreads its consciousness out along its personal timeline while progressing inexorably along it physically.

So, general writing tip. Your lead character needs an internal life and at least two things which genuinely matter to her, though concealing at least one of those for a while and letting it emerge from events and reactions is a good thing. Her inner life is understandably pretty simple when she's struggling to survive, but since she's also spent these chapters linguistically isolated she's had a lot of time to think about what she's lost.

Since about half of what she's lost appears to be modern plumbing, she comes off a tad bit shallow, though sweet and steady with it.

I love this sooooooo much! There is nothing else out there (that I can find at least) that comes even close to this. I can't wait until the fellowship come in. AAHHHHH please please please update!

THis story is amazing! WHere's more?

You know, she faints, ALOT! This really reminds me of Twilight. I liked it, but you had quite a lot of unesscary and bad language in this chap. I liked how you described the Elf. It was funny!

Hey! I liked it! Sorry I hadn't reviewed before! It is just so long and I was so busy that I didn't have time to read it! Oh no! I wonder what the thing was...oh my gosh! It be hilarious if it was a rabbit! But of course, rabbits aren't huge, pant like a bear, run like a wolf, and have fangs like a lion! Anyways, pretty good!

Just change the places, the names, and the plot, and my friend, you have a pn awesome story to publish!

Really? You had to have her raped? Well. I'm sorry. But I will not read this story any longer! Such a bummer. It seemed so good...

I am deeply sorry, but I have to tell you that I am putting you on my favorite Authors list. A rare thing!

Oh my gosh. This is truly amazing! It was SUPER long and took quite a while to read, but it was well worth the time. I loved it so much! Very realistic, perfect grammar, and nice and long. I liked it how she rationed it and everything. I'd act EXACTLY like her if that happened to me! What is her name? And age? Guess I'll have to find out! This is really interesting! Instead of winding up near Rivendell or Hobbiton she's out in the middle of nowhere. Awesome!

I really really enjoyed this. Super realistic, thanks a bunch. I could definitely relate to Maddie and will be eagerly waiting to see what happens next. This is awesome stuff.

great story! looking forward to more! !

I'm enjoying this so far... I only have one quibble. Your character's 'petticoat' which needs to be 'tied up' in the back sounds as though it ought to be a shift, and certainly a shift would be more period-appropriate than only a petticoat for an undergarment. All your details are very nice, however! (Now I'm off to read chapter 3...)

Very interesting. I've read a few OC characters thrown into LOTR but I've never seen such a realisticly (language, culture, etc) done story of it. She really is very interesting and I get the feeling that what knowledge she has is pretty much what you have because in comparison to me its pretty similar (I've got more on you in the wilderness/plant/first aid section but just what I know from Girls Camp). I'm especially impressed by how you described the language barier and love the "To make a realistic girl-falls-into-ME story" with its little anecdotes.

Congradulations on a very interesting and well done story. I can't wait to see more of the underlying plot. Looking forward to more chapters,

Ruin

Definitely one of the best "OC lands smack in the middle of Middle Earth". I'm not a diehard fan of Lord of the Rings per se (I read the books of course but I can only remember the movie), but this story made me really appreciate this more. Thanks for sharing this wonderfully well-written and realistic (or as realistic as a story can get given the setting) story with the rest of us. Hopefully, by the next chapter, Maddie finds things a bit easier for her.

I really enjoyed this!

I absolutely love this story! Please keep going! I can't wait to see what happens next!