#Tolkien scholarship

[phoenixrisesoncemore]

If you've followed me for any length of time and ever wanted to hear me talk about how Sauron, Arda Marred, and the Problem of Evil fit together, now's your chance.

This paper was presented at this year's Mythopoeic Society's Online Midsummer Seminar. The talk itself is about 38 minutes long and explores the metaphysical implications of the developments to the Legendarium in general and Sauron in particular that took place between 1951 and 1960.

#tolkien #sauron #mairon #silmarillion #lord of the rings #arda marred #arda unmarred #arda healed #problem of evil #tolkien metaphysics #tolkien scholarship

[sillylotrpolls]

Related previous scholarship on the topic.

#lotr #lord of the rings #poll #polls #gandalf #serious tolkien scholarship

[absynthe--minded]

Hi! Sorry to bother, but do you know where I can read more about Tolkien's opinion on queer relationships and queerness in general? I haven't read all of the letters, but in one of them he says some icky and misogynistic stuff about (het) relationships and I was kind of disappointed. (I don't mean this in a 'gotcha' kind of way, I'm just a queer person who's genuinely bothered by some of his views and wants to learn more)

I don’t think it’s any sort of a gotcha!

The short answer (there is more I have to say, but I’ll give you the important bit first) is that Tolkien never made any explicit and confirmed statements one way or the other about queerness. I’ve seen some people allude to things but I’ve never found anything concrete, and this fandom and this scholarly field are both homophobic enough that if there were anything he said against queer relationships we’d have all heard it by now. also, seriously, good job digging deeper into his views and interrogating them - he was far from perfect and honest, forthright engagement with his flaws is basically the only way we’ll move forward and tackle them.

the longer answer is that while he was both openly sexist (ranging from pretty bad misogyny to “uh, have you ever met a woman in your life?”) and openly racist (usually taking the form of “repeating any ethnic stereotypes he came across without any thought of their relationship to reality, and having no idea of what was or wasn’t offensive”) his feelings on queerness are harder to find. this isn’t that unusual - even people we’ve been able to confirm as queer or probably queer are in many cases silent about their relationship with their sexuality, and Tolkien was in a position where even if he himself was queer (which, by the way, is my opinion) he’d probably have no incentive to say so directly.

because this fandom and this scholarly discipline are so overwhelmingly cishet, queer scholarship of Tolkien is in its infancy, even to a point that means most people who are open to queer readings and queer interpretations will balk at trying to argue for the canonicity of queer relationships and queer subtext, there’s also not a lot of writing on this subject by biographers or other academics. however, there’s a fair bit of evidence that at least argues both that Tolkien was okay with IRL queer people and he was consciously engaging with queer themes in his works.

what we know is this:

he was friendly with W.H. Auden (gay), and a deep admirer of the works of Mary Renault (lesbian who wrote historical M/M fic focusing on the classics, sort of a midcentury Madeline Miller but more focused on historical accuracy). in fact he’s on the record as saying he loved Renault’s books (specifically The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea, though possibly also The Charioteer and The Last of the Wine, both of which are explicitly gay fiction) and the fan letter she sent him was among his most prized correspondences

he was Catholic, but he purposefully wrote stories or developed narrative ideas that weren’t directly in compliance with Catholicism, and he did acknowledge that in one case (specifically the Gift of Men and the concept of euthanasia as a blessing) he was interested in exploring concepts as good stories rather than moral messages - this shows that his faith wouldn’t have necessarily bound him to only depict homosexuality badly

he wouldn’t have suffered socially for speaking out against queerness (other authors of his circle like C.S. Lewis were more vocal) but he didn’t, which indicates a choice not to

he was aware of and directly inspired by Homeric epics alongside Northern European sources, and this does include the Iliad

Quenya doesn’t have gendered pronouns, and we know that in at least one draft he changed gendered words like “husband” and “wife” to “spouse”. he also depicts elves and dwarves as having a high degree of androgyny, and elvish marriages are not explicitly required to be between a male elf and a female elf

his inclusion of vital and important relationships like Túrin and Beleg, Frodo and Sam, and Fingon and Maedhros alongside equally important het relationships indicates that he was interested in giving space to M/M that blurs or steps over the line between platonic het-approved friendship and queerness

there’s something to be said for how British midcentury queer literature depicts queer men as sad outcasts at war with their true nature who can’t ever be happy, and how Tolkien writes a lot of men in relationships with other men who are in that position except they’re miserable because of outside forces (the Ring, the Oath, Morgoth’s curse, their failings as people apart from relationships) and their deep connections with other men are the happiest and best part of who they are

this is, as you can see, both an area that really needs further study and an area that has just enough to suggest that he wasn’t a garden variety homophobe.

I hope that helps?

#replies #absynthe’s meta #queer tolkien scholarship is basically a ghost town

[skyeventide]

— THE WRETCHED OF MIDDLE-EARTH: AN ORKISH MANIFESTO, Charles W. Mills

LTR = Lord of the Rings

#buddy pals I have waited so long to see the crusades properly brought up in tolkien scholarship #so long #essay liveblogging #The Lord of the Rings

[arnorion-in-arda]

And here’s the diagram meant to pull together the primary societies, conferences, and journals for Tolkien-related materials.

#Tolkien #research #conference #journal #society #resources #emerging scholarship #Tolkien studies

[theoppositeofprofound]

How much more deranged would Middle-Earth be if Tolkien was given access to modern scholarship re:the ageless depth of trees?

It’s true that by the end of the Third Age, no trees in Eregion remember the elves that walked there. But there’s an ancient yew in Rivendell that Gil-Galad planted, a clone of one of the old trees of Lindon, that’s still thriving when Elrond leaves his home. It’s seen elven kings and laughing lords and harried messengers. Though trees don’t care about such things, it’s nice to be seen.

There’s a golden aspen grove between Lothlorien and Fangorn. The elves say Nimrodel planted it before her name was Nimrodel, before continents sank, when the forests were home only to a handful who loved them more than paradise.

By the shores of the Mirrormere is another yew. In a little known tradition, kept by one dwarf alone, every Durin plants a few of its seeds, and one of those trees always lives long enough to see his next self.

There’s a cypress in the port of Umbar. Locals say the lord in Mordor planted it the first time he visited (he was still in the habit of planting trees back then). It lived past several of his deaths but faltered, finally, beneath the ashes of his last, worst destruction—more than four thousand years later.

On a tiny island in the sea is a little cluster of spruce trees—some scrap of drowned Beleriand too holy, for one reason or another, to falter. It’s the same tree—when one falters a new coppice comes to take its place, growing out of the same root system. There’s a betting pool among the deep sea fishers of the Falathrin about whose grave lies beneath.

Much is made of the White Tree of Gondor, but on the hillsides in Ithilien, dangerously close to Minas Ithil, are gnarled olive trees that witnessed the Last Alliance. Faramir is inordinately fond of them without knowing the reason why.

Ulmo keeps a garden of sea sponges. The oldest didn’t just see Númenor founded and drowned, it saw the bones of the very first second-comers. (Ossë collects many things.) It’s been… 10,000 years? 12,000? Sponges don’t keep time, they just remember.

Ulmo also keeps a bed of sea grass older than the destruction of the Lamps, but he doesn’t mention that to other people; it’s just for him.

#tolkien #lord of the rings #the silmarillion #I was going to do a Mirkwood bullet but I ran out of long lived tree species #maybe they get a terrifying wollemi pine situation

[hubristicassholefight]

Hubristic Asshole Fight: Round 1 Part 1b

Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars) vs Feanor (The Silmarillion)

Propaganda below cut

Anakin

Decided that he would become stronger than death to stop those he cares about from dying after failing to accept his mother's death. When he begins getting visions/nightmares like he had before losing his mother of his wife dying in childbirth, he decides to team up with an evil sorcerer and mastermind to learn the secret to stopping death. The price he willingly paid was leading the slaughter of the community of peacekeeping monks who had raised him from nine years old, feeling guilt about his heinous betrayal even as he unflichingly continued the massacre (sunk cost fallacy to a very extreme degree). The unintended price he paid was the loss of his limbs and independence after his injuries during a fight with his mentor and brother figure, his wife dying on childbirth due to the great stress of his heinous actions, and being separated from his children until they were adults firmly opposed to the imperial regime he became the attack dog for (only knowing of their survival until after he had personally attacked them both); He literally did not have to do any of that. his wife Padmè very very very very much did not want him to do any of that. He was completely absorbed in his own inability to deal with loss that he deadlock refused to consider losing family again and then he went and killed what amounted to his extended family, his wife and the man who raised and guided him from age 9. And his own kids unknowingly. In terms of accomplishing your goals there really really wasn't much more he could have fucked up. And when it comes down to key moments, all he had to do was not cut off mentor and co-worker Mace Windu's hand with a laser sword and everything would have been fine. He's a nominee for Fail King of All Time to me

He thinks he's hot shit which, he is, but like cool it dude you don't have to mass murder maim mutilate your way through life to prove you're the extra most specialest bestest psychic space wizard;

Hubrised so hard he 1) lost his limbs and his skin 2) became what he hated 3) caused the very death he sought to prevent, betraying and destroying himself for nothing; So soaking wet and self aware that he cried committing atrocities. If he knew what hubris was, he'd agree he has a lot of it

Feanor

The definition of hubris. Created the silmarils who were so perfect even the gods praised them. Got them stolen by the gods evil brother (so essentially fantasy satan). Then decided to go fight the evil god to get the silmarils back and swore an oath binding him and his sons to get them back no matter who would stand in their way. This drastically backfired when some other elves stood in his way so he murdered them. Got cursed by the gods for this (together with his entire family and everyone who followed them). Told the gods that they were of the same kind as fantasy satan and that they would end up following him

Morgoth (a god) shows up at his house and Feanor (professional hater of gods) tells him to get fucked* and slams the door in his face. *”Get thee gone from my gate thou jail-crow of Mandos!”; He has never spent anything wrong ever aside from all the war crimes.

The Valar (gods) asked Feanor for help in saving the world from being in total darkness and he said “no, figure it out yourselves”. Repeatedly and intentionally goes against their orders leading to war and chaos; I know it’s left open ended to what really happened to him after he died, but I hope he never repents. I hope he stays an antagonistic and egotistical bastard after being reimbodied (brought back to life) and continues to make it everyone else’s problem. I love him.

I’m gonna have to try to do this without a sing Tolkien scholarship words so bear with me. Basically my dude is one of the smartest and most talented elves in the world. Unfortunately he has a lot of daddy issues AND mommy issues largely due to the fact that his mom died when he was a kid and decided not to come back (as elves can do). No one else has this problem. He invented a ton of important stuff and had seven sons. His most prized creation was three gems called the Silmarils, which contained the light of the Two Trees, which gave light to the world before they were destroyed. When the Valar (the gods of Tolkien’s world) asked if they could use the Silmarils to potentially create another light source, he emphatically refused and in fact became so jealous of them that he and his sons swore an oath that anyone who so much as touched them would die by their swords. Sauron’s boss steals the gems and Feanor decides that he will lead his people on a crusade to retrieve and avenge them. This results in the death of him, most of his people, and almost his entire family minus one of his sons, Galadriel, and Elrond; He once yelled at the devil to get off his lawn

went to war with morgoth (satan basically) against the will of the gods and made a whole speech to said gods about how they were gonna feel really silly when he killed morgoth and saved the whole world. he never actually did battle with morgoth because he died on like day 1 of getting to middle earth (he left like 2/3 of his forces behind because he didn’t trust them) and spontaneously combusted upon his death; he’s a huge asshole and a mad scientist and linguist and prince with daddy issues and also mommy issues

Dude thought he could win a fight with the devil, tried to just walk into Angband (Mordor before Mordor actually existed), made an oath to kill everyone that tries to take his creations even the Valar (angelic like beings) and ends up causing his death, his sons deaths and a bunch of other deaths; His name is quite literally spirit of fire Is basically regarded as THE greastest elf Is in fact THE best smith of the elves and crafts their most precious jewels (that end up causing so much death) Is THE linguist to the point of creating the alfabet every one uses even after The Crimes, creates a bunch of things that are used even after The Crimes actually Loves his dad more than the things he made Is the only recorded elf with seven kids Is married to a sculpter that is so good that people confuse her statues as actual people (a propaganda because he had to be good to actually bag her you know) Manages to create jewelry so good even the the angelics beings sent by god are surprised he managed to do it So good at making speeches that it leads to a rebellion against said angelic beings and a lot of people to leave paradise with him His mother died because his spirit was too powerful Invented kinslaying after trying to steal some boats for said rebellion Swears an oath that destroys his whole family (but adds a great flavour to the rest of the story) Tells the devil to fuck off and slams his house door on said devils face Dies via auto combustion because his spirit was just too powerful for a normal death Gets stuck in the afterlife (that elves can usually just return from) for spiting the Valar Is said he will have an important role in Tolkien’s version of Ragnarok by letting the jewels he previously promised to kill for be destroyed to defeat the devil

Because of his pride, he went against the gods because the evil god Morgoth stole his life's work (the Silmarils, 3 shiny gems that radiated the light of the two trees that a huge evil spider had sapped dry). Swore (with his 7 sons) an oath to hunt Morgoth and retrieve his shiny gems. Commited kinslaying, burned some boats, combusted to ashes after suffering mortal wounds at the hands of corrupted demi-gods. Consequences of his actions could be seen long long after his death: the oath was passed on to his sons to hopelessly fulfill (failure after failure, including two more kinslayings, one of them casting himself into a fiery volcano, another wandering the shores for eternity);

#anakin skywalker #star wars #feanor #the silmarillion #tolkien's legendarium #hubristic assholes tourney #round 1 #round 1 part 1b #official #poll

[astronicht]

Replying to a comment on this ask reply about evil in the North in LOTR (but it was too long to actually put in a comment ,)

@warrioreowynofrohan I'm so glad evil is in the north in The Silmarillion!! I have also been promised that the story of the creation of the world is also in there, since Frodo fell asleep during Tom Bombadil’s early medieval cosmology lesson. I really, really want to know what happens in Elf Creation, because Tolkien did not write a book about it academically but CLEARLY had at least a few opinions about early medieval ideas of where the world came from, which he possibly just put in Middle Earth, if he had them fleshed out enough. This makes me nuts bc CS Lewis, meanwhile, wrote a whole-ass book called The Discarded Image about his idea* of the medieval vision of the cosmos (like where is outer space, where are the planets, where’s heaven, etc, including How It All Got Made) and also per the word of a thesis supervisor back in the day who was super into this stuff, worked symbolism of the planets in the medieval cosmos into one of his fictional works.

*bc the rest is under cut: if you want a more accurate read for medieval and Renaissance cosmology, the textbook is Planets, Stars, and Orbs by Edward Grant. I would not recommend TDI for historical accuracy

Lewis brushes over early medieval ideas only briefly (early medieval anything is actually not usually included in medieval academia on a theme; it’s sort of a weird zone from ca. 600-1100 AD, and Grant doesn't cover it either). But while the book is interesting on some points, it's pretty misleading, and CS Lewis's one solid error was presenting all of medieval cosmology as a Single Idea, which it also very much was not. People did not magically stop arguing about how the world got made and what it looked like for one thousand years, and modern scholarship has looked at that. But he was reading all the same texts as Tolkien, and this weird oversight that has bothered me for years, and for YEARS i have been wondering if Tolkien thought something else. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t! WHY did he put the seven stars (the five visible planets plus the sun and moon) on Aragorn’s sword PLUS the sun and moon, throwing off the count entirely?? Maybe he did not actually give a shit). I look forward to finding out, and probably suffering for it.

RE: Gollum! Your actual question! Honestly at the moment (aka at the end of Fellowship), Gollum seems like such a thoroughly Grendel figure that I almost get worried I’m being lured into a 1:1 comparison, when Tolkien seems to enjoy making a bunch of different references within each character. Strider is King Arthur, Strider is that guy in that saga nicknamed Strider, Strider is another guy with a sword situation in another saga(??) (I have not read enough Norse sagas). Gollum, though, is associated with the underground and with water; he has his dark low pool; Grendel lives in a low dark pool (with his mum). Even being cast out by a matriarch maaaaybe suggests something of Grendel’s Mother, who is just as much a main character, or perhaps more so; she’s the final boss of the Grendel bit of Beowulf, after all. So in conclusion: yeah I see your point! I'd be curious to figure out what else is being folded in. However, assuming the Grendel similarities are on purpose, congrats to Tolkien for the only good Beowulf adaptation ever.

#astro lotr #i was trying to find the passage i was referencing in cs lewis but im sorry i read that in 2019 in a pizza parlor and i am late for work #always think critically of your sources especially if they are me!! etc etc

[phoenixrisesoncemore]

Numenor, the Mighty and Frail

This Sunday The Tolkien Society (UK) is hosting an online seminar with the theme of ‘Numenor, the Mighty and Frail.’ Panels will begin at 6:30am EDT and last through early afternoon EDT. Each presentation has a 30 min slot and there are two 30 min breaks.

This seminar is FREE to attend. Go to: tolkiensociety(dot)org/events/seminar-2023/

Several of the scholars presenting on Sunday are people I know and who I know do very strong work (I’ve also gotten to see drafts or alternate versions of a few of these papers and am very excited to see the finished products!)

The Tolkien Society is also organizing another upcoming seminar, “Tolkien and Religion in the Twenty-first Century,” taking place in November of this year.

Presenting scholars and presentation titles for “Numenor, the Mighty and Frail” are below.

Putri Prihatini, “Sea Goddess Worship and the Power of the King: Parallel between Aldarion, Uinen, Mataram Sultanate, and Javanese “Queen of the Southern Sea””

Irina Metzler, “Dealing with the Dead: Nuances of ancient Egypt and medieval theology in Númenor”

Advait Praturi, “Darkness Alone is Worshipful: Discovering A Númenórean Theological Anthropology of Worship”

S.R. Westvik, ““I often dream of it”: Trauma and memory in the legacy of the Downfall of Númenor”

Sara Brown, ““Foretasting Death in Life”: Desire, the Fall, and Attempting to Return the ‘Gift’ of Ilúvatar”

Journeé Cotton, “‘All roads are now bent’: Ethical readings of the corporeality of Númenor”

Alpaslan Tandırcı, “Ecology of Imperialism: Environmental History for Númenor”

Erik Jampa Andersson, “The Akallabêth and the Anthropocene: Myth, Ecology, and the Changing of the Earth”

Kristine Larsen, “Monstrous (Im)mortality: Transhumanism and Ecocriticism in ‘Akallabêth’”

Tom Emanuel, “‘By the Waters of Anduin We Lay Down and Wept’: Exilic Theology in the Akallabêth”

Chris Vaccaro, “‘And Númenor went down into the Sea’: the pleasure of self-dissolution and the masochistic jouissance of Westernesse”

Mercury Natis, “Seducer-Destroyer: Sauron’s Femme Fatale Sources and Their Role in the Númenor Narrative”

Clare Moore, “Elmar, the Experience of Captured Women, and Empires in Decline”

#tolkien #silmarillion #numenor #sauron #tolkien scholarship #tolkien society seminar #tolkien society

[sillylotrpolls]

Tolkien scholarship is not only a "thing," but it is a great, big, expansive thing with essays on any topic you can imagine, sometimes bound up nicely in trade-paperback volumes.

Considering the kind of blog this is, I of course chose the volume about humor for this poll, but if you're bored and need something to stop you from endlessly scrolling tumblr for a little while, you might take some time to peruse the linked site and see if any essay titles catch your eye. There's guaranteed to be something to tickle the imagination of any Tolkien enthusiast.

Regarding the options, I had to truncate a few essay names, as the authors seem to use the same naming style as Webtoon comics, but you can see the complete list, the authors' names, and read the abstracts for each here.

#lotr #lord of the rings #poll #polls #tolkien #polls for especially nerdy nerds #don't worry there will be something less cerebral tomorrow #alternately #sorry there will be something less cerebral tomorrow

[theonevoice]

Hello! Thanks for responding to my post. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who was making that connection. Then I noticed that you were the one who made those astounding portraits of Crowley and Aziraphale -- I'm sure you know which ones -- and I had to reach out. Bravo! That was some amazing art.

Forgive me, I'm not accustomed to conversing with strangers anonymously online. I don't know if there is an etiquette for it. I mostly lurk. But between your art and your allusions to scholarship, I wondered what you do?

For my part, I am a sociologist. So I'm not in the field of literature or media, but I do know how to use Google Scholar, and I was, for my part, disappointed in its offerings on Terry Pratchett.

Sincerely,

Kate

Hi Kate! Thank you for reaching out, I am always happy to receive mail, so to speak! And thanks for liking the drawings (they are my newly re-discovered hobby)!

Regarding the original discussion (the so-called Great Tradition of Western novels and the shameful lack of study of Terry Pratchett novels), I agree: in the field of academic literary studies there is a very bad and unfortunately widespread prejudice against almost all fantasy and scifi literature, with minuscule exceptions (Asimov, sometimes but not always Tolkien). As of now, I am a researcher in the field of Comparative Literature and Literary Criticism and Theory (they are all grouped in the same academic "sector" where I live), and for my part, I have two strong and loud opinions on the matter (which I regularly inflict on all my colleagues):

1) Fantasy and Science Fiction literature is not "inferior", less deep, less aesthetically valid, or less interesting than other genres, and overlooking it is just a bad pompous habit shared by many scholars (there are historical reasons for it, but I find it still unacceptable)

2) If we want to properly comprehend the collective imagination of our times through its artistic manifestations, which is one of the declared objectives of literary studies, we *must* take into account those narratives that venture outside the comfort zone of realism, because that's where many crucial issues are processed

By the way, I personally believe that the second point applies to comics and anime as well (not despite their younger target, but exactly because of it).

That's it, sorry for the rant! But I am very grateful for your ask, because it gave me a chance to add Tumblr to my list of places where I have preached about this! XD

#literature

[enbaluka]

I wonder if there's scholarship on dune to the same lever there is scholarship on Tolkien. Ok that was a dumb question, how much scholarship is there on Frank Herbert's ᑐ ᑌ ᑎ ᑕ, if there is any?

#dune #frank herbert #tolkien

[skyeventide]

I just started reading the critical review of Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography (2023), book by Holly Ordway, review by reverend Tom Emanuel, and already in the first page it highlights so so well a huge problem that exists among religious tolkien fans and scholars, where they talk and act like not only they are the true understanders of tolkien because they are religious but they also suppose that their worldview is in fact neutral. that they come to the story from a "neutral" perspective, where neutrality is "truth", where they talk with this self-assured sense of reasonability to posit their unique insight into tolkien, a reasonability that couldn't possibly be stunted by any sort of bias. like the complete inability to note that not only they are biased by their self-identification in tolkien's own faith (disregarding any element of said faith in tension with other aspects of his identity as writer and man, or any element where said faith is amply worth criticising), they are in fact actively partisan and actively self-limiting in the scope of their analysis. this is a problem in scholarship and fandom. the rest of this review sounds promising, it's deeply liberating to see that put into words AND with citations.

#JRR Tolkien #essay liveblogging

[arnorion-in-arda]

Scholarship Resources - Journals

One of the aspects that has most confounded me as I’ve tried to break into the academically intimidating world of Tolkien scholarship is the array of venues and forums through which an aspiring writer could submit their work for review. After much hemming and hawing I finally consolidated a short list of the primary Tolkien-themed journals and conferences, understanding that the lines around such interacting communities are at best blurry.

Mythlore, the journal of the Mythopoeic Society (MythSoc), was founded in 1969 as a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal focused on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and the genres of myth and fantasy to promote the study, discussion, and enjoyment of fantastic and mythic literature; all 140 issues are available online through https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/

Mallorn, the journal of The Tolkien Society (TTS), was founded in 1970 as a peer-reviewed journal publishing articles, research notes, reviews, and artwork on subjects related to the works of J.R.R. Tolkien; full texts of all articles (excepting issues published within the past two years, only available to Tolkien Society members) are accessible online at https://journals.tolkiensociety.org/mallorn/issue/archive

Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review (TS) was founded in 2004 as a high-quality journal meant to present the growing body of critical commentary and scholarship on both J.R.R. Tolkien’s voluminous fiction and his academic work; published annually by West Virginia University Press with founding renowned editors Douglas Anderson, Michael Drout, and Verlyn Flieger; all 19 issues are available on Project MUSE (https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/299) and in paperback at $60 each

Journal of Tolkien Research (JTR) was founded in 2014 as a peer-reviewed, open access, electronic journal meant to provide high-quality research and scholarship based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as both transformative and derivative texts based on his work, to a wide and diverse audience, to include gaming, media, adaptations, fan productions, and audience reception; articles from all 25 issues are available online at https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch 

At MythMoot-9. University President Cory Olsen announced the imminent launch of the Signum University Press (SUP) which is intended to provide both classic visual texts (primarily electronic but also potentially print on demand) as well as modern multi-media presentations as well: audio recordings of academic papers, video recordings, and possibly content in more esoteric formats. It is likely that SUP will form a fifth major forum for Tolkien-themed scholarship, both established and emergent.  

#resources #emerging scholarship #journals #tolkien studies

[ceruleanwhore]

I know the Tolkien fandom really loves Yavanna and has these lovely theories about her making the hobbits and the ents, but I had another idea regarding the ents that makes more sense to me, which is that Oromë was actually the one to make them. This is partially because the Valaquenta says that "all trees he loves, for which reason he is called Aldaron, and by the Sindar Tauron, the Lord of Forests," which clearly tells us that he specifically loves trees. We also know that he spent more time in Middle Earth than any of the other valar, so it's not unreasonable that he could grow attached to some of the forests there and create shepherds to care for them.

More importantly, I actually think that he and Vána are Tom Bombadil and Goldberry, because of a slavic deity called Leshy (also Leshi or леший). His domain is the forest and he's a great hunter, like Oromë, but he's also a bit of a forest cryptid who tends to mislead travellers, more like Bombadil. Now, Tolkien was into all kinds of stuff like older European mythologies, so it isn't unreasonable to think that he could've encountered this deity in his scholarship and then used him as inspiration for these characters. The way I see this working is that, at some point after the first age, Oromë and Vána were sick of everything so they fucked off to the forest in Middle Earth and started over as Bombadil and Goldberry.

The ents tie into this because Bombadil clearly cares about the ents in the text. If he was the one who created them in the first place, then that would further explain his interest in receiving news about them. Oh and the last thing I'd point out is all the singing with Bombadil because Lord knows that singing is a pretty big thing with all the valar, since that's how they created and shaped Arda.

Idk, what do y'all think?

#tolkien #silmarillion #oromë #vána #yavanna #ents #tom bombadil #goldberry

[silmarillionwritersguild-art]

Arda during the Years of the Lamps envisioned by @soluscheese, article by @dawnfelagund

Tolkien's canon is complicated. That's an understatement. There are dozens of books presenting multiple versions—some of them contradictory, difficult to date, and sometimes hard to even read—and that's before one considers the many adaptations, fanworks and fan interpretations, scholarship, and myriad other "takes" on Middle-earth.

This Cultus Dispatches column is one of our Fandom Voices columns, where we present a question or two to the community in an attempt to capture a range of fan experiences with a topic. We asked participants how they define canon and, if they make fanworks, how they use that canon in their fanworks. We received a record number of responses, many of them going into great depth, and so this iteration of Fandom Voices is divided into two columns, beginning with how fans define Tolkien's canon. However, you can read all of the responses together here.

How Tolkien fans define canon mirrors the complexity of the canon itself. We agree on very little (although many people noted the value of different approaches and the importance of tolerance), but the result is a decades-strong fandom where vibrant discussion and creative interpretation of the legendarium have lulled but never completely ceased. Respondents wrangled with how to handle the canon's many contradictions, the place of Christopher Tolkien's editorial work, the historical and mythical framework of the legendarium and the impact of that approach, and where adaptations and fanworks belong in terms of canon, among many other issues raised and discussed.

You can read the first part of "Fandom Voices: Defining Canon and Using Canon in Fanworks" here, published by @silmarillionwritersguild

Also note that our Fandom Voices surveys never close. If you didn't get a chance to share your views and want to, it is not too late! We will continue to add new responses to the collection as they come in (including pulling from new responses for the second part of the article. You can respond to the "Defining Canon" survey here.

Finally, we are in the midst of a series of Cultus Dispatches articles focusing on canon in the Tolkien fandom. Cultus Dispatches is always open to contributions from all members of the fandom, so if you know of a creator or fanwork that takes an interesting approach to canon, or if you have another idea related to canon and fandom, contact our moderators and pitch your idea! Our reference editors will support new researchers and writers through the process, so don't let unfamiliarity with research writing dissuade you from sharing your ideas with us.

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