Grasping at Moonbeams Glistening
2. Author’s notes
With many, many thanks to Lady Elwen for her editing!
Passages from LotR used as reference in this story:
The Song of Beren and Luthien, from “A knife in the Dark”, FotR. The titles comes from this poem, in case you missed it. :)
The first scene of the “Last Debate”, where Legolas and Gimli meet Merry and Pippin at the Houses of Healing.
“They stood not far from the Citadel-gate, in the sixth circle, nigh to its southward wall, and about them was a garden and a greensward with trees, the only such place in the City. There dwelt the few women that had been permitted to remain in Minas Tirith, since they were skilled in healing or in the service of the healers.”
RotK, Book V, Ch 7, The Pyre of Denethor
The herbal uses appearing on the story are accurate. Thornapple is a folk name for Datura Stramonium, a plant containing an alkaloid that has been used in asthma treatments for generations in folk medicine. Willow bark and meadowsweet are nature’s aspirin. A tincture made of marigold leaves is a very potent antiseptic and enhances wound healing. Safety warning: Do not try any of these without consulting a licensed practitioner first.
Information regarding pipe-weed comes from The Encyclopedia of Arda.
The inspiration for this story came from this thought: If Orlando Bloom has spawned such hysteria after his appearance in the films, how did the real women of Middle Earth react to the real Legolas?
I hope that the outcome was worth the effort.
This is a work of fan fiction, written because the author has an abiding love for the works of J R R Tolkien. The characters, settings, places, and languages used in this work are the property of the Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Enterprises, and possibly New Line Cinema, except for certain original characters who belong to the author of the said work. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for presenting the work on this archive site. The work is the intellectual property of the author, is available solely for the enjoyment of Henneth Annûn Story Archive readers, and may not be copied or redistributed by any means without the explicit written consent of the author.
