[Child of the 7th Age]

Whoops, everyone. I goofed.

Those particular questions aren't from Pio. They're from me (Child, Cami). I stuck my post into Pio's vacant box, and forgot to put my name at the top. Pio and I did, however, discuss the general topic, and she was also thinking along these same lines.

I've run back and pasted my name over the post so no one else will be confused.

BTW, there's no right or wrong answer here. It's just how you decide to develop your story idea. You can stick your neck out beyond what Tolkien actually says as long as it doesn't blatantly contradict what we know to be true about Middle-earth.

It just strikes me that there is a lot of intrigue going on at the court. Denethor doesn't like Aragorn or Gandalf, and his dad does. For years, Ecthelion resisted Aragorn's advice to attack the Corsair fleet. Then four years after Finduilas comes to court, he reverses his position.

Maybe, just maybe, she had something to do with this reversal of policy. Of course, Tolkien himself never said this. But neither did he tell us why Ecthelion changed his mind. If Finduilas was doing this kind of thing, she had to be very skilled and very discreet. Her husband loved her in his own fashion and he never suspected her of anything like this, which would actually go against his own views.

And I agree with Sophia. Whatever you decide on as an ending, you could use intrigue and spying on the part of the women similar to that portrayed in The Scarlet Pimpernel. In traditional societies, where women are often excluded from official positions of authority, they often used these tactics to make what inroads they could.

Cami

[ May 21, 2003: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]