Henneth Annûn Story Archive

I was just thinking the other day, and I have an idea for a challenge. Take any scene that Tolkien wrote, from any of the books. Now turn it on its head: write it from some POV other than the one Tolkien gave us. Here are some examples: * Bilbo's "unexpected party" in The Hobbit -- we pretty much get just Bilbo's perspective. What was one of the Dwarves thinking, or Gandalf, or the hobbit next door. * The Nazgûl attack Frodo, Sam, and Pippin as they cross the Shire (just before they bump into Gildor). We get Frodo's thoughts, but what about the other hobbits', or the elves, or the Nazgûl, or an animal who oversaw the whole encounter? * Faramir's interrogation of Frodo and Sam, but from his POV or one of his Rangers', or from Frodo's for that matter. (I think we see this pretty much through Sam's eyes.) * Éowyn attacks the Witch-king, but through her own eyes. Or Théoden's. Anyone but Merry. The idea is to find a scene that Tolkien tells us through one point of view, and tell that same scene from some other cahracter (canonical or original) who would have seen the same scene. I'm not sure this would work for all scenes, but there are several that are told pretty strongly from one POV or the other. Btw, I don't have a problem with people writing movieverse stories, but I think the nature of the medium makes it harder. There may be a few scenes you could make this work for. Sam kisses Rosie in the Green Dragon after the War, maybe, or someone other than Boromir sees Boromir's temptation by the Ring at Caradhras? If you can make it work, it should also fit in this challenge.

 

You're evil evil evil -- and I'm in. I think it's my 2nd - or maybe 3rd - this week! My ankles! My ankles! Crap. This is the reason I avoid this board !!

 

Evil is part of Marta's title, didn't you know, EdorasLass? I really like this idea. So many perspectives to consider! It's dizzying. Any more takers? Allie

 

I'm in! Elemmíre

 

I'm in! I've already done The Council of Elrond from a very different perspective, so I'll use that if further inspiration doesn't strike. Jay

 

Pssssst, Marta? *Barbara waves and tries to catch Marta's attention without awakening any Nasty Nuzgûl* I think this is a terrific concept! I've been working on an idea for a drabble series for my Sons of Elrond at the Field of Celebrant challenge, which would involve a drabble from the POV of each of the various participants (and maybe even non-participants) in the battle. However, since Tolkien wrote so little (one lousy paragraph, only in HoME) about the scene, whatever I write would hardly be comparable to his narrative... So, would you accept something that is also intended for another challenge? Would you accept a drabble or (hopefully!) drabble series? I waited to speak up, because I think I actually have enough ideas to complete at least one of the drabbles (my muse has been notoriously fickle)... This one is from the POV of the Balchoth who stayed at home and waited for their warriors to return, which they never did. Since The Most Esteemed and Blessed Lord Sauron had told them that their warriors could not fail, and since Sauron could obviously never be wrong, then the only possible explanation is that their warriors were victims of the vilest sort of sorcery and evil magick... and there were dark whispers of a pair of ghastly grey spectres wreaking slaughter upon the battlefield... - Barbara

 

Hiya, Barbara! s back Pssssst, Marta? *Barbara waves and tries to catch Marta's attention without awakening any Nasty Nuzgûl* Bwahaha... you do know that's impossible, right? I think this is a terrific concept! I've been working on an idea for a drabble series for my Sons of Elrond at the Field of Celebrant challenge, which would involve a drabble from the POV of each of the various participants (and maybe even non-participants) in the battle. I for one really want to see this done? And I'm hesitant to ask, but what "Field of Celebrant" challenge? However, since Tolkien wrote so little (one lousy paragraph, only in HoME) about the scene, whatever I write would hardly be comparable to his narrative... So, would you accept something that is also intended for another challenge? Gladly. As long as it fits this idea, it doesn't have to be written *specifically* for this challenge. The piece I want to enter is Treebeard's perspective on the last parting of Aragorn and Pippin at Isengard. Would you accept a drabble or (hopefully!) drabble series? That shouldn't be a problem. Any word length is welcome. I waited to speak up, because I think I actually have enough ideas to complete at least one of the drabbles (my muse has been notoriously fickle)... This one is from the POV of the Balchoth who stayed at home and waited for their warriors to return, which they never did. Since The Most Esteemed and Blessed Lord Sauron had told them that their warriors could not fail, and since Sauron could obviously never be wrong, then the only possible explanation is that their warriors were victims of the vilest sort of sorcery and evil magick... and there were dark whispers of a pair of ghastly grey spectres wreaking slaughter upon the battlefield... Oh, that sounds fascinating! I do look forward to reading this one. Marta Edit- forget about asking about the Fields of Celebrant question. I forgot that you had linked to it in my reply.

 

As long as it fits this idea, it doesn't have to be written *specifically* for this challenge. The piece I want to enter is Treebeard's perspective on the last parting of Aragorn and Pippin at Isengard. Thanks, Marta! And I really enjoyed that piece, so it'll be great to see it as part of this challenge... - Barbara, off to poke at the Muse...

 

Umm. I already have two of these kinds of stories written, both movieverse. One is the Watcher's POV watching as the Fellowship cross its waters to enter Moria and the attack that follows, and a scene with Sam and Rosie from the end scene with Sam going over to Rosie in the movies, written from Rosie's POV. Would these count?

 

I've already written the scene where Eowyn attacks the Witch-king from her perspective, though it's part of a much-longer, as-of-yet-unfinished story. Would something like that be ok? (I'm still pretty new here, and I've never done a challenge before, so I'm not exactly sure how these things work. So I apologize if that's a really stupid question. )

 

Umm. I already have two of these kinds of stories written, both movieverse. One is the Watcher's POV watching as the Fellowship cross its waters to enter Moria and the attack that follows, and a scene with Sam and Rosie from the end scene with Sam going over to Rosie in the movies, written from Rosie's POV. Both of those should work fine. I'm not opposed to movieverse stories; I was just having a hard time coming up with examples that would work. But what you're describing sounds like it fits just fine. Marta

 

Hi Shieldmaiden of Rohan, I've already written the scene where Eowyn attacks the Witch-king from her perspective, I assume the story is bookverse? So long as there isn't anything to situate it in movieverse, I think this should count as an alternate perspective. After all, in the books the scene is told from Merry's POV. though it's part of a much-longer, as-of-yet-unfinished story. Would something like that be ok? This is the part that I'm not sure about. Would this scene work as a stand-alone piece? It sounds like the alternate perspective isn't a big part of the longer piece. I'm not opposed to longer pieces being in the challenge. For example, I wouldn't have any problems with Bill the Pony's account of the journey through Hollin, and this could be a pretty long piece. (I'm still pretty new here, and I've never done a challenge before, so I'm not exactly sure how these things work. So I apologize if that's a really stupid question. ) I'm not really a current Challenges Manager; I used to be one, and I still help out, but Meril and RiverOtter will explain things better than I can, as they're the current CMs. If you have any questions, why don't you check out the FAQ or tutorials? If you still have any questions you can email them? Hey Allie! I think we have six, maybe even seven! Can you set up a challenge? Marta

 

One is the Watcher's POV watching as the Fellowship cross its waters to enter Moria and the attack that follows, Oh, that sounds fascinating! I love to see things written from the POV of a non-speaking creature. And I also love to see the POV of evil characters. So this should be double the fun! - Barbara

 

Hey Allie! I think we have six, maybe even seven! Can you set up a challenge? *guilty grin* He he... Thanks for pointing this one out to me, Marta... Your wish is my command. Allie

 

Hey, Marta! To answer your question, yes, it is based in bookverse. But the whole story so far is basically Eowyn's perspective on all the events she's involved in for TTT through ROTK. So I'm not sure if parts of it would work for this. I have a couple chapters up here in the beta section, though there's something like 20 chapters hosted on another site that I haven't put up yet. I could try to adapt that one section though to make it into a shorter story, if need be. Thanks for the quick reply!

 

Another quick reply, and then I really am off to bed. Okay, probably a few other quick replies -- sleep can be replaced by strong coffee. ;) To answer your question, yes, it is based in bookverse. But the whole story so far is basically Eowyn's perspective on all the events she's involved in for TTT through ROTK. So I'm not sure if parts of it would work for this. I have a couple chapters up here in the beta section, though there's something like 20 chapters hosted on another site that I haven't put up yet. I could try to adapt that one section though to make it into a shorter story, if need be. Well, if the longer piece has Eowyn's perspectives on lots of events that she experienced but where Tolkien didn't give us her experience, it could work. I don't mind long pieces, I just wasn't sure about the idea of one short scene in a 30,000-word piece qualifying it for a chapter. It's up to you. If you think there are enough alternate perspective scenes that it should qualify, then enter it. If not but you want to adapt the Witch-king scene to a vignette, that would be great too. Marta

 

I was thinking about it some more, and I think adapting that one part of the story probably wouldn't work, since a great deal of Eowyn's experience in my version had to do with the events leading up to it. So now I'm thinking about attempting it from the Witch-King's perspective instead. Never tried to write one of the bad guys, so that should be an interesting challenge.

 

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