#Tolkien's influences

[arda-marred]

According to letters and previously unpublished manuscripts, J.R.R. Tolkien began writing stories about Middle-earth as far back as 1917 when he was deployed in the First World War. During this time of time of senseless destruction and tragedy, Tolkien created a hero that embodied these fears; Turin Turambar, the self-proclaimed “Master of Doom.”  There is no shortage of heroes in Middle-earth; the diverse cast of characters is a primary reason readers are attracted to Tolkien’s books. From the highest order of Elves and Gods to the smallest Hobbit in the Shire, anyone can be a hero. Manwe, Gandalf, Beren and Luthien, Eowyn, Frodo, Sam, and so on. These heroes of Middle-earth are generally positive figures, they show compassion for others, take council in wisdom, and put the needs of the helpless ahead of themselves; standard qualities for an archetypal fantasy protagonist by today’s standards.  Turin is different. He is disturbed, melancholic, and vainglorious, though he is capable of compassion and accomplishes much in the name of good; of Turin’s many exploits, the most remarkable is single-handedly slaying Glaurung the dragon, a scene reminiscent of Sigurd and Fafnir from the “Volsunga Saga.” Despite all of Turin’s achievements though, despair follows. His sister Lalaith dies from plague as a child and Turin never recovers emotionally; Turin’s father Hurin is captured in battle, believed to be dead, tortured for decades, and cursed to watch his family suffer from afar through dark magic; Turin’s homeland is overtaken by bandits and subjected to thralldom; Turin is forced to abandon his pregnant mother at the age of nine and the two never meet again; he is exiled from his foster home after murdering an advisor to the king, refusing to return on the one condition that he ask for forgiveness; he kills his best friend Beleg after mistaking him for an orc in the dark; most disturbing of all, he discovers that his pregnant wife, is actually his long lost sister Nienor. Upon realizing their act of incest, Nienor casts herself into the ocean and Turin falls upon his sword, thus ending his miserable life.  Turin, a complicated anti-hero that isn’t quite sympathetic, but pitiable, is a jarring departure from the other heroes of Middle-earth. There is never a triumph for Turin; the weight of the world just keeps packing on. While Tolkien was certainly in the headspace to create such a character during the turmoil of World War One, the genesis of Turin and his family is derived from “The Kalevala,” a collection of ancient songs, poems, and folk stories from Finland. Turin’s life was inspired by the rune songs of Kullervo, a deeply troubled youth who experiences many hardships and goes through life inflicting disaster upon himself and his people; sometimes by accident, other times in a fit of rage. Kullervo is a national icon in Finland, not just for his appearance in “The Kalevala,” but as the subject for Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’ first major symphony, “Kullervo. Op. 7.” Through this creation, Sibelius raised the international awareness of this tragic character, as well as the literary and cultural merit of “The Kalevala.”   Read more

#Tolkien #J.R.R. Tolkien #Turin Turambar #The Children of Hurin #The Silmarillion #Tolkien's Legendarium #Tolkien studies #Kullervo #Finnish mythology #The Kalevala #Finnish rune songs #The Tale of Kullervo #Tolkien's inspirations #Tolkien's influences #Tolkien and the Great War

[thecoolblackwaves]

#weekly poll wednesdays #if you cant tell already these are primarily going to be silly #my vote is curvo but dont let that influence you #feanorians #feanor #nerdanel #maedhros #maitimo #maglor #makalaure #curufin #caranthir #carnistar #celegorm #tyelkormo #amrod #amros #ambarussa #silm #silm fandom #silmarillion #tolkien

[wanderer-clarisse]

characters from Rohan, from the chapter The King of the Golden Hall: Théoden King, Éomer, and Éowyn

#ROHAN!! #trying my best to make them look distinctly european because i've always connected rohan with medieval europe in terms of style/design #while the elves (and maybe gondor as well) have more eastern europe and asian influences in my mind #drew this as i was catching up on lotr newsletter but so many things are happening in the story that im already behind lol #theoden #eomer #eowyn #clarisse doodles #lotr #lotr newsletter #tolkien #lotr doodles #the two towers

[bobdylan-n-jonimitchell]

Joni Mitchell performing her song “The Wizard of Is” whose melody is taken from Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne”—CBC’s Take 30, May 1967.

#Joni Mitchell #The Wizard of Is #Take 30 #CBC #1967 #1960s #Video #Leonard Cohen #Suzanne #Leonard n Joni #J.R.R. Tolkien #Tolkien #The Lord of The Rings #Influence & Interests

[gossip-girl-of-middleearth]

HI I don’t know if your request are open so I figured I would send one anyway and then if they were closed you could just ignore it lol

BUT I had this idea and it’s been in my head for days and I don’t feel like writing it myself soooooo

Do you think you can do a one-shot or, yk, whatever you’re comfortable with, for a Legolas x Reader where the reader is kinda like Jaskier? Like they’re dramatic af, are a bard, and isn’t an elf but has somehow just been alive and in peak condition for way longer then they should’ve been? Like Legolas and Reader don’t really get along at first when they met because Reader was traveling with Thorin and Company and stuff and even after he figured out they weren’t bad he was still like “my GOD are they annoying.”

And then Gandalf seeks them out after the fellowship is formed they’re actually super useful bc they know like 10 languages, have traveled almost everywhere, and is actually very good with a sword. Gandalf brings the fellowship to a seemingly random tavern and Legolas just stops bc he recognizes them immediately and is just like “oh my god, PLEASE NOT THEM FU—“

But yk after that they like fall in love and shiz 🙄

SORRY THIS IS LIKE SO SPECIFIC OR UR NOT TAKING REQUEST it’s just I love ur writing, no other lotr blogs I’ve found are taking request, and also you seem to like Jaskier so I figured u might enjoy this a little ?? 😭😭

ANYWAYS EVEN IF YOU DON’T WRITE THIS THANKS FOR READING IT AND I LOVE UR WRITING SM ITS SO GOOD 🫶🏻🫶🏻

Sing Me A River (Legolas x Bard! Reader)

Author’s Note: HELLOOOO, FELLOW DEAR HEART! My requests technically are always open, it’s just a matter of if I ever get around to them lmao. Naturally, I get a lot of requests. Even more naturally, someone requests something and throws the word ‘Jaskier’ in there I’m writing this baby ASAP. Now, this thing grew legs of its own so you’ll probably have to request a part two in the asks so I can get that to you. I just really wanted to put something out tonight, so boom, two-parter. Maybe three. Hey, let’s just see where it goes. Now, believe me when I say I tried to find a gif that wasn’t Jaskier, but apparently if you type in ‘medieval bard lute gif’ into Google images Jaskier is the golden child of the hour. Anywhooooo hope this is what you were going for! I’ll get onto part two soon — you just gotta put it in the asks!

Warnings: Crude jokes made by reader all for the sake of the guts and glory of an epic banger of a song. Mentions adult content. (Bards will be bards).

Synopsis: Like all relevant characters of Middle-earth back in the day, you joined the Company on their Go-Fund-Me campaign to reclaim Erebor. You were a nobody bard back then but the success of your relations with kings and stories of defeating dragons made you a big hit. Speaking of hit, you and Legolas don’t get on. You made one too many hits about him that painted his royal family in a bad light. Oops. Now, Sauron is back and the Fellowship may just need your help. It’s mostly just Gandalf vouching for you, though. Oh, and fangirl Boromir ofc. They find you singing a frankly defamatory song about Legolas in a lively tavern at the height of your fame (you’re essentially One Direction circa 2012 big in Middle-earth in this fic). Tension brews as you’re ultimately asked to join a second Go-Fund-Me campaign.

The evening was late in hour but early of chores, as Gandalf and Elrond poured themselves over maps of Middle-earth. Various members of the newly-formed Fellowship hung about the open-aired room, pondering each other with curious glances.

Everyone shifted uncomfortably, wondering who’d prove to be the best travel mate for the next few months. It was as if no one knew what to do with their hands or feet, as they stood about awkwardly.

What was there to talk about, anyway? Economic investments and the rising housing crisis in the wake of the upcoming war? With so many races in the room, it was hard to navigate cultural customs, let alone figure out who was of what social standing based on clothing alone. A prince certainly had no place discussing such mutual matters with a gardener, nor a Captain of Gondor with a ranger.

No, it was best everyone waited until Gandalf and Elrond announced a travel route.

“This would steer you best from the path of both Isengard and its scouts,” Elrond concluded, pointing and dragging one finger down the tattered map.

“That’ll bring us into long-overrun townships,” Gandalf pointed out. “Middle-earth is no longer the safely presumptuous-centric land it used to be. People from all over Arda have now flocked for its resources and previously-thought safety.”

“Secrecy is best bought when surrounded by languages that cannot understand you nor you them,” Elrond countered, raising a brow and looking up at the wizard.

Gandalf raised a hand and scratched at his wiry beard. “No… But perhaps we could benefit from an additional team member for the passage? One who knows, say, ten languages across the seas and land underfoot?”

Elrond’s face quickly fell into disapproval. He moved back from the map as if standing too close to it would conjure up the bard’s presence alone, for said bard certainly dwelled somewhere within it, if the local posters unceremoniously plastered on historical podiums in Rivendell detailing the latest show were proof enough alone.

Legolas noticed this behaviour and kicked himself off the wall. He’d had run-ins with bards before – or, one, at least, and one was certainly enough. He quit twirling a knife in his hands, a gift from his father for his begetday long ago, and paid close attention.

“Ten languages would most certainly aid you, but…” the usually reserved lord made a face of cringe, “must you really bring along your friend? Do you even know where they are?”

Gandalf suddenly looked bashful. He reached into his satchel and removed a flyer. It had your pouty face on it and colourful words detailing where your next show was and the date. “I meant to visit them for one of their shows, before getting side-tracked…”

Elrond tried to not judge his friend, as he glanced up from your poster and back to Gandalf. He raised his brows and sighed, resigning himself to the idea. You had certainly grown in fame over the last few decades since your efforts in fighting the dragon fueled your reputation and songs, and certainly the fame had added to your already eccentric ego.

“Very well, if that is your will, I will support it… Just, don’t invite them back for a concert, please; my sons are still recovering from the last one, as is my winery.”

Gandalf nodded at the lord and smiled. “Nonsense, our bard is of the utmost integrity. I have nothing but faith.”

Legolas looked between the lord and wizard, quirking a brow. He tried to view the poster before it was placed back inside the satchel, but alas Gandalf unknowingly blocked his view.

But then, the prince suddenly recalled you in full detail from the fight against the dragon, and your time spent in the Mirkwood dungeons. You were clearly mortal, and that was many years ago.

Satisfied with the thought, Legolas nodded to himself in reassurance. There was no way you were still alive and kicking. With any luck, you were fast asleep in a chair somewhere, millions of leagues away.

~

Oh, you were in a chair alright. Except standing on top of it, one foot on the backrest and one on the seat. You certainly weren’t asleep, either, nor was your performance lulling anyone into such a slumber. There would be no lullabies here tonight, good sir.

Instead, on top of the chair, you belted out lyrics to the song you wrote about your time captured in Mirkwood with the Company, using the foot on the backrest to push the chair downwards, where you dramatically landed on the floor and kept on playing around the lively tavern with your lute.

Folks of all nationalities and origins joined in, for how could they not? You knew how to play the song in over ten different languages and were finally onto the Common Speech version. Everyone sung along as you made your way around the floor, illuminated in a thousand different arrays of golden candlelight.

You alluded to the Mirkwood Elves being absolute idiots, to put it lightly. It was only unfortunate that the Fellowship, led by Gandalf, walked in the moment you made a crude innuendo about Legolas’ hair being nearly as pasty as the spider’s webs surrounding his forested home. Something about incest, too.

It wasn’t very nice, but what could you say? You hated the pretentious white-haired family and they you. Perhaps composing a ballad with the dwarves about the elves’ wine-stained teeth in the dungeons planted the seed of distaste in the first place, but alas.

Gimli clapped his hands merrily and tapped his foot. “Oh-ho-ho! ‘Tis a CLASSIC back home! I’ve been meaning to meet the bard from my father’s tales for many years now! What an honourable night. Let us drink to it!”

Pippin nodded faster than light at Gimli and then Merry, speaking before racing off with his cousin and dwarven friend to the bar.

“Aye! We’ve heard this one, too! Even all the way out in the Shire!” Pippin looked up at Legolas, who’d just walked in with Aragorn right behind him. “Funny, I didn’t know there were other white-haired elves such as yourself and your father in Mirkwood, your highness. What are the chances of that!”

Just then, you sung of Legolas by title and name, confirming every crude lyric to be indeed about him towards the end of the song. Something mean about his father, too.

Pippin’s mouth parted and his brows shot up in surprise. He quickly shrugged it off, though – looking up at the elf casually before joining Merry and Gimli by the bar. “Oh, they are singing about you! That makes more sense!”

Legolas furrowed his own brows, looking away from the departing hobbit and across the tavern right as you came to the finale of the song, earning rapturous applause. And then, his eyes grew wide.

Gandalf looked bashful as he stood with Boromir. The captain was grinning at your performance – whistling as you took a dramatic bow as the cheers carried on. Frodo and Sam looked between each other but shared a silent nod, and afterwards, they joined the rest at the bar.

Seething, the prince snapped his gaze up at Gandalf. “THEM? Are you SERIOUS? How could you possibly not tell me?! They are the most arrogant, dim-witted, crude, annoying—”

“Now, now, Legolas,” Gandalf cut in, placing a hand on the swiftly rising elf’s shoulders. “Y/n and yourself may have an… adverse history, but that whole Mirkwood incident was put to rest years ago. If I recall, you both parted ways amicably at the end of the battle. There may have even been a smile, too, if I recall very well!”

“Overjoyed to be rid, as I remember it,” Legolas rolled his eyes, landing them in your direction. You took a sip of ale and felt a gaze, or, glare, lingering in your direction. When you locked eyes with the angry ones of the prince, you widened them for only a moment, before narrowing them and smirking mischievously.

Oh, he didn’t like that.

Hoisting your sloshing ale out to the side, you widened both arms. You were stood atop a tavern table, now pointing in the prince’s direction.

“Oh, my stars! Do my eyes deceive me?” Your naturally loud voice caught the attention of the tavern again, who all no doubt were hoping for an encore. “Ladies and gentleman, if it isn’t the star of the hour! Well, besides me, of course – but no, I should share the limelight; it’s the muse of my song, Legolas of the Woodland Realm!”

Everyone all looked in his direction. Many laughed loudly, some whistled appreciatively, and others who believed the lyrics muttered behind cupped hands to conceal their words and grins.

Aragorn shifted uncomfortably. It wasn’t good to bring this much attention to themselves, especially given the circumstances. One look from Aragorn sent up at Gandalf voiced his concern. The wizard nodded back and drew you over with a beckoning hand.

You finished off the rest of your ale and encouraged other bards to pick up the music again. Once the sound of flutes and lutes filled the air, you made your way through the crowd, placing your hand over your heart and responding earnestly to every compliment as you walked past.

"Y/n! I saw you play when I was a child!"

"My niece is a HUGE fan!"

"Do you sing at weddings?!"

And soon enough, you were in front of the trio.

“Gandalf the Grey,” you grinned up, slinging your lute across your back.

He responded warmly, throwing your bard title in as he did so. “You’ve exceeded your previous standing upon the pedestal of fame. Apparently, this song has been heard all over the land.”

At the mention of the song, you turned to Legolas. “Ahh, has it now? Judging by the star-struck expression upon your oddly fine-tuned visage, I’m guessing this is your first time?”

Legolas narrowed his eyes and kept them locked on yours. “First and last time.”

Without missing a beat, you replied, “Aw, buddy. Don’t worry. Being a two-thousand-year-old virgin isn’t that weird. Don’t count yourself out just yet.”

His face dropped. “Wha—No! That’s not at all what I—”

“I must say, dear bard,” Boromir cut in, firmly shaking your hand. “My little brother and I have seen you perform in Gondor before, and we are both great admirers of your work. Might I please trouble you for a signature made out to ‘Faramir’? I might not get this opportunity again.”

You shrugged it off coolly. “Yeah, sure! Always happy to meet a fan!”

Legolas stared in horror at the interaction for a moment. “What is happening right now..?”

Aragorn placed a hand on his shoulder and stepped in. “Y/n, I’m afraid we have not only come for review of your work tonight.”

At that, he looked up at Gandalf urgingly. The wizard sighed and nodded. “Indeed not. Might there be somewhere more private we can talk?”

Briefly looking up from the signature you were writing on a handkerchief, you nodded your head from side to side in thought and pursed your lips, speaking as you wrote. “I’ve got a room here. I’m not sure we’ll all fit, but I suppose we can figure something out."

You sent a wink Legolas’ way, whose face was still frozen somewhere between contemplation, shock, and horror.

“You should be dead,” he decided upon moments later.

Feigning alarm, you looked over your shoulder. “Why? The song really that bad? You hired the world’s worst assassin to take me out and they couldn’t even finish the job?”

Learning how to dance with your words again, Legolas replied straight to the point. “You look the same as you did all those years ago. You’re mortal. You should be dead, or very, very elderly, at the least.”

You blinked back at him. “Was there a question in there somewhere, or…?”

Noticing all the attention you were drawing, Gandalf and Aragorn decided to usher this meeting along elsewhere.

“Ah, Y/n,” Gandalf slid in, smiling tensely as he noticed Legolas’ fingers curl backwards, as if instinctively reaching for his bow. “Perhaps we should continue this upstairs? We have much to discuss, as mentioned before.”

You raked your eyes over the prince’s face for a further few seconds. He all but glared back. You dropped your eyes to his hands, noticing the way they curled the same as the wizard did. Smirking, you looked back up into the prince’s eyes – locking them there as you responded to Gandalf.

“Great idea.”

#oh to be a sexy medieval bard with the power to influence the masses on political figures #do you think legolas was a political figure? #I mean #he was a prince #what would you ransom him for? #personally I wouldn’t settle for less than half a Mirkwood armada’s worth of armour #but that’s just me 💅🏻 #Tolkien’s just praying every day I end up in hell #Legolas x reader #Legolas x y/n #Legolas x you #fellowship x reader #fellowship x you #lotr fanfic #company x you #company x y/n #company x reader #fellowship x y/n #lotr oneshot #lotr fic

[essenceofarda]

unsolicited headcanon time that would probably make Tolkien roll over in his grave!! No one asked for this and probably no one cares LOL these are just silly lil' headcanons i have that have permeated my interpretations of canon and kinda influence how i interact with said canon / my art of canon :>

A fair amount of the time i headcanon Books!Legolas as trans. I'm not... sure where this headcanon comes from?? I don't even remember having a moment where i was like "I'm gonna headcanon Legolas as trans!" it just occurred to me one day that I was like... Yeah, he's trans okay moving on...

Elrond is autistic . not so much based on canon nor am i implying this is supported by canon/the books but the elrond in my art and definitely the elrond in in Romance in Rivendell is autistic to me :>

Aragorn has General Anxiety Disorder i feel like this IS supported by canon lol the dude spends 99% of his screentime in the books perseverating lol

Pippin has ADHD, again, i feel like this is kinda canon lol

Eomer has dyslexia, and had to have a special tutor come from Gondor to help him learn his letters when he was a boy growing up in Meduseld. Many suggested he just grow up without learning to read cause like, hey, they're in rohan, but Theoden insisted that he learn to read proper. This is actually gonna come up at some point in To Be Loved :)

Watch Out! More headcanons coming soon :)

#funky's personal tag #i feel like the eomer one was influenced by someone else's headcanon tbh #bc it's something i think about a lot but it feels like something maybe i read somewhere on someone else's headcanon post? #look how most of these are neurodivergent headcanons LOOK I KNOW I"M PROJECTING SHUT UPPPP ;) #hahahaha #anyway.... #No one ever asks me my thoughts on characters/headcanons so i gotta roll up my sleeves and shove my headcanons down your throats myself lol #lotr #lord of the rings #silmarillion #the silmarillion #tolkien

[itspileofgoodthings]

currently teaching Beowulf (with a heavy emphasis on Tolkien), I just started teaching the Hobbit, and I am in the middle (approaching the end) of a lord of the rings rewatch. it is Tolkien-city in my brain and I love it here.

#I played my one sophomore class the clip of Eowyn giving Theoden and then Aragorn the cup #a scene directly inspired by Wealhtheow giving the ale-cup to Hrothgar and Beowulf #(if you ask me) #anyway. I am also learning a lot about the Anglo-Saxons and their influence both on Tolkien and English culture generally #ALSO ALSO I read this thing about how Tolkien loved that Beowulf was a christian epic with a pagan past #how it lives at the meeting point of the two #AND SO MUCH MAKES SENSE TO ME NOW ABOUT LOTR #teaching tag #Sorry I’m just excited. what a thing this learning is indeed to quote the nurse from R+J #lol

[mamawasatesttube]

🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

HMMM. well, depending on your definition of weird, there's probably several. i went down quite the rabbit hole looking up facts about albireo (a star in the constellation cygnus) while plotting out the core four space adventures fic i have yet to post, but i mean who doesn't love astronomy wikipedia pages???

the most fun big research deep dive i've gone on anytime recently though was the blue-banded goby one. i was thinking about ways to write kryptonian biology as different from human, and then started thinking abt how a lot of mammals have largely bimodal models of sexual dimorphism, but other parts of the animal kingdom do it differently. blue-banded gobies are really cool because they're bidirectional hermaphrodites, so they just change their sex to whatever's more convenient, and can undergo that change multiple times in their life cycles!!!

i skimmed a few papers, but this one ("Structural changes in the ovotestis of the bidirectional hermaphrodite, the blue-banded goby (Lythrypnus dalli), during transition from ova production to sperm production") was my favorite. there's a set of fish in there who both transitioned from producing ova to sperm and i think about them often. it's just so funny to me. this is so funny to me. oh we're both girls so neither of us can fertilize eggs? not to worry i'll grow some spermatogenic tissue-- wait. what are you doing.

overall i just love doing scientific research, especially in biological fields (im a bio student with preclinical laboratory experience so like. its my jam!!!). i also did a whole bunch of reading on various melliferous plants before writing a sex pollen fic. the research in question influenced all of one (1) line in said fic. BUT!! it was still fun fhjkds

Writers' Truth & Dare Ask Game!

#answers #radioactive-earthshine #ive also thought way too hard about oceanic gyres and plate tectonics while trying to worldbuild #concluded one time that i accidentally worldbuilt myself into having the sun rise in the west #because my subtropical gyre in the northern hemisphere was counterclockwise #which would indicate the opposite direction of planetary rotation as earth has. #and i was like OH NO!!!!! bc in-text i was pretty sure i'd already described sunsets in the west so i'd have to go look for all of it #<- you can probably see the tolkien influence #but t hen i was like man this is an anime fanfic i Cannot be assed #if i just don't mention it hopefully no one will notice #and no one did notice. but it does still bother me to this day even tho ive long-since abandoned that fic ksdfhjhs

[bitchfaramir]

[After nearly two pages of Faramir filling Gandalf in, he finally turns to Denethor, who has been listening silently]

‘[...] I hope that I have not done ill?’ He looked at his father.

‘Ill?’ cried Denethor, and his eyes flashed suddenly. ‘Why do you ask? The men were under your command. Or do you ask for my judgement on all your deeds? Your bearing is lowly in my presence, yet it is long now since you turned from your own way at my counsel. See, you have spoken skilfully, as ever; but I, have I not seen your eye fixed on Mithrandir, seeking whether you said well or too much? He has long had your heart in his keeping.

‘My son, your father is old but not yet dotard. I can see and hear, as was my wont; and little of what you have half said or left unsaid is now hidden from me. I know the answer to many riddles. Alas, alas for Boromir!’

‘If what I have done displeases you, my father,’ said Faramir quietly, ‘I wish I had known your counsel before the burden of so weighty a judgement was thrust on me.’

‘Would that have availed to change your judgement?’ said Denethor. ‘You would still have done just so, I deem. I know you well. Ever your desire is to appear lordly and generous as a king of old, gracious, gentle. That may well befit one of high race, if he sits in power and peace. But in desperate hours gentleness may be repaid with death.’

‘So be it,’ said Faramir.

‘So be it!’ cried Denethor. ‘But not with your death only, Lord Faramir: with the death also of your father, and of all your people, whom it is your part to protect now that Boromir is gone.’

‘Do you wish then,’ said Faramir, ‘that our places had been exchanged?’

‘Yes, I wish that indeed,’ said Denethor. ‘For Boromir was loyal to me and no wizard’s pupil. He would have remembered his father’s need, and would not have squandered what fortune gave. He would have brought me a mighty gift.’

For a moment Faramir’s restraint gave way. ‘I would ask you, my father, to remember why it was that I, not he, was in Ithilien. On one occasion at least your counsel has prevailed, not long ago. It was the Lord of the City that gave the errand to him.’

‘Stir not the bitterness in the cup that I mixed for myself,’ said Denethor.

From The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (pp. 812-13)

#that scene from the film but faramir said make better decisions then lmao!!!!!!!!!! #also the importance of gandalf's influence on faramir here #lotr #lord of the rings #tolkien #lotr meta #faramir #denethor #gandalf

[to-coyly-go]

ok so i'm so enamored with tolkien's middle-earth. i love that world so so much. i love how his works shaped the high fantasy genre and set the bar so damn high, because, hello?

he didn't just create a massively complicated world with its own mythology that can sometimes be inconsistent because of just how deep he went with it, he also made the languages for it?? most fantasy authors invent a couple words at best and their language logic is shoddy at best. but not tolkien.

you could probably communicate using quenya or sindarin, two languages he created and which are extremely different from each other, not just in their vocabulary, but in their structure as well. and that's barely the tip of tolkien's language iceberg! he then went and made more!

he thought about everything, there's a language spoken commonly by all races, westron, which is why the fellowship is able to communicate immediately. the hobbits speak a dialect of it, and this is remarked upon by other characters. but it's not their first language, save for a couple, it's a second language they had to actively learn. plus, not everyone can speak westron, namely haldir's elvish company. there are linguistic barriers in me fantasy book how cool is that?!?!?!

and just looking at the tolkien gateway, he created eight language groups, some of which influence each other, two of those being full on language family trees with old speech that developed into a newer language that is currently being used. of course, not every one of these languages is fully developed, most are just rudimentary grammar, if any, and a couple words, but they are there!

#well that turned into a long winded rant lol #this is what i meant when i said i love it when my obsessions influence each other #im just so in love with how he has a language for everyone #even if its just a name and three words #instead of what fantasy authors usually do (aka not bother with any language) #everyone can understand everyone because yes. they just can #tolkien #lotr #middle earth #languages #autism?

[fictionadventurer]

imaginary book: “The Ruined Idylls of Calomar”, low fantasy (quite obscure, authorship disputed; philologists suspect the first draft was written in a Celtic or Semitic language in the late 19th or early 20th century.)

The Ruined Idylls of Calomar by A.E. Mann

This haunting work of fantasy claims to be the journals of an unnamed scholar living in exile after the fall of the hidden lands of Calomar. Once a thriving, peaceful, highly civilized culture, its glory was brought low by the pride, greed, and wrath of kings, scholars, explorers and warriors who fought for glory, power, and honor, until its final destruction by a dark, nameless weapon left only a scant handful of survivors to escape and tell the tale. In haunting language, the narrator writes of Calomar's glory and intrigue, its final fall, and his irresistible yet doomed attempts to return to his lost homeland and learn what, if anything, has survived.

#imaginary book recs #answered asks #this one was recommended to me by a friend whose tastes are much more cultured than mine #as in she's reading gormenghast and lord dunsany while i read mediocre self-published fairy tale retellings #i read the gutenberg version right on my computer while procrastinating #the description sounds more generic than it actually is #it's like a bridge between those victorian explorer atlantis lost land tales and a more modern take on fantasy #i wouldn't be surprised if it was an influence on tolkien or at least i suspect they're drawing from similar traditions #these people are much less noble and the narrative rather sadder than tolkien's #but i was still enthralled #sometimes you need to read about people who are better than you #and sometimes you need to watch the intrigues of people who fight and fail #and this one fits well into the latter tradition without losing that sense of wonder and goodness that undergirds good fantasy #the language is kind of dense but once you get going i found it rather readable #you have to be in the right mood and fortunately i found it at the right time #i'd like to see if i could find an annotated version one day #i don't know as much as i'd like about the origins and authorship and all those things like that #and at the very least i suspect there are worlds of references that i'm missing

[alqualonde-s]

i’m going to write about this later but what gets me is fics casually mentioning our royal elves having maids or whatever… like if you lived forever and also could just live in the woods and hunt and gather legally and easily would YOU have a job you didn’t like? why would there be a “lower class”? elves are utopian communists and that’s that. they clean up after themselves and pitch in for big jobs. yes i know tolkien said a lot of stuff and he’s wrong because he loved old english epics where people had to live under feudalism or whatever.

#more coming once i’ve actually done research #to be clear nothing wrong w being a cleaner professionally! i’ve been one #and it sucked #imo being a royal elf is like being an influencer nepo baby in valinor #people pay attention to you bc they think you’re kinda cool and your dad was really awesome #obviously things changed once war became a thing and there were actual life and death decisions to be made #but overall considering by the time the flight happens elves are like 3-4 generations in #that’s not a ton of generations to establish generational wealth and a deep-rooted class system #all the elves were born in cuivienen as equals and that’s still living memory #there’s nothing systematically preventing social mobility #considering elves live forever basically #i’m a poli sci major if that explains everything #silmarillion #silmarillion meta #silm meta #silm worldbuilding #worldbuilding #tolkien

[arda-marred]

Regarding the fictional Sam Gamgee’s link to the First World War, Carpenter’s Biography quotes Tolkien as saying, “My ‘Sam Gamgee’ is indeed a reflexion of the English soldier, of the privates and batmen I knew in the 1914 war, and recognized as so far superior to myself.” A batman, in military parlance, was a soldier who (as well as being required to fight) was tasked with looking after an officer’s kit, cooking, and cleaning. Tolkien’s phrasing in the letter sent to Minchin is different, and very interesting too: “My ‘Samwise’ is indeed (as you note) largely a reflexion of the English soldier—grafted on the village-boys of early days, the memory of the privates and my batmen that I knew in the 1914 War, and recognized as so far superior to myself.” It gives the extra dimension that in portraying Sam, Tolkien had also drawn on memories of lads from the rural outskirts of Birmingham, where he had lived between the ages of three and eight. This dovetails well with his statement elsewhere that the society of the Shire is “more or less a Warwickshire village of about the period of the Diamond Jubilee” (Letters p. 230)—that is, a village like Sarehole in 1897, Queen Victoria’s 60th year on the throne and Tolkien’s fifth on earth. Amid all Tolkien’s astonishing inventiveness, and alongside the vast knowledge of matters mythological and medieval that he poured into his legendarium, this is a point too easily overlooked: contemporary life, especially the life he knew in his formative years, was a powerful well-spring of creativity in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien’s comment to Minchin also provides support for a point I have made in various talks on how the Great War shaped The Lord of the Rings. By silently linking his hobbits with the boys of 1901, who had grown into the young men of 1914, Tolkien was able to draw directly upon the war into which he and those men were then hurled. He had seen, and felt, how war could change those who went through it. Many of the dangers he describes in The Lord of the Rings may be fantastical, though many are not and others are only symbolically so. But the fear, the resourcefulness, the demoralisation, the courage, the sorrow, the innocent laughter in the face of dreadful odds: all these things he had known, and he infused his fiction with them. This, and memories of those rural roots, bring the hobbits vividly to life.

#Tolkien #Tolkien studies #j.r.r. tolkien #samwise gamgee #tolkien and the great war #wwi #the first world war #first world war #tolkien influences #tolkien's childhood influences #tolkien's contemporary influences #john garth

[essenceofarda]

New fic idea i really wanna write ಥ_ಥ

aka a fic that takes place after the war of the ring, where a woman of the Order of the Secret Shadow is sent to Gondor in the guise of a servant girl, as a spy, and falls in love with Faramir and Eowyn's son Elboron, and ultimately has to choose where her loyalties lie...

*The Order of the Secret Shadow in this fic is a (fanon) organization originally founded by Thuringwethil, and is a spy and assassin network of primarily female operatives. Also referred to as "The Order of the Bat" and "The Order of the Night". After the war of the ring, they serve no master, but work with many of Gondor and Rohan's enemies. While many don't believe it even still exists, many suspect that Berúthiel might have been a prominent member of this order. However, this is merely the speculation of Gondorian Historians.

anyway, expect some fanart for this fic/The Order of the Secret Shadow bc I'm so enamored with this fanon organization I've been developing for the last few weeks :')

#maybe soon I'll turn this into an actual fic :') #maybe! #anyway they're def influenced/inspired by Black Widows of MCU #but bats lol #thuringwethil #tolkien fanfic #lotr #lord of the rings #lotr fanfic #lotr headcanons #tolkien headcanons #queen Berúthiel #fun fact i chose the name of the order “Secret shadow” bc (i believe at least?) that's the #common tongue translation of thuringwethil's name :)

[awkwardtuatara]

So I know that the most likely explanation for Findis only having one name is that Tolkien never got around to giving her another, but given that even Lalwen for a great set of names, I'm starting to favour the idea that Findis just... doesn't have an amilesse.

I mean, Finwe's not great at naming his kids - Fëanáro's ataresse was just Finwion for quite a bit. And father-names are given at birth, and most mother-names are given later, after the child begins to develop a personality... An expectation for what to be, and a descriptor of what you are (or maybe a promise). Imagine Indis trying to find the perfect name for her child, and no matter what the name just isn't quite good enough, can't capture how amazing her daughter is.

But Findis doesn't know that. To her, she was never quite special enough to have a unique name, not even to meet the typical customs. Which is interesting, especially since she spends time with the Vanyar and her mother after the darkening.

So she's just Findis. Finwe-Indis, the merger of the skilled man and the great woman (a word that also means "bride," apparently) but never enough of either. Never notable enough to be herself. A creation of her parents and nothing else.

(Eventually, perhaps, she redefines the name. Fin from Finwe, dis from Indis, but together the skilled woman, accomplished in her own right. But that takes time.)

#watch me build a personality out of a name and like 2 facts #ah female tolkien characters and their lack of definition #findis #tolkien #valinor #finwe #indis #I really should figure out Indis as well since she influences so much

[anghraine]

ngl, one of the other reasons I get a kick out of Tolkien saying that Númenóreans became barely distinguishable from Elves “in appearance, and even in powers of mind” is because a lot of the fandom is extremely committed to all Men being strikingly inferior dissimilar to Elves in both appearance and abilities, and their arguments against Tolkien’s characterization can be very funny.

ROP has made this even funnier because the casting has re-activated a lot of people’s investment in sharp, visible differentiation between Elves and Númenóreans in ~canon~. Whenever someone brings Tolkien’s quote up to them (not me, since I don’t respond directly most of the time, but other people do), they’ll be like, “oh it is you who misunderstands! when he says they became barely distinguishable in appearance he means in fashion choices not actual physical appearance! and by powers of mind, he of course only means that they’re strong-willed and perceptive not literal powers, and the stories of them mentally communicating with their horses must be mistaken, and the most mundane possible interpretation of them in LOTR is the only plausible explanation—”

#tolkien played with the idea that only the elrosians were 'magical' and then was like 'wait that contradicts lotr nvm' #but it's funniest wrt appearance #because the possibility of confusing elves with edain/dúnedain comes up... like. multiple times???? #and yet you get these desperate stretches like 'oh he meant their CLOTHES' #and the longer context of the quote is that they remain mortal i.e. fundamentally human and this is the seed of their downfall #bridging the gap between elves and other men through their similarities to elves while remaining basically human #and increasingly resenting that fact #is their /whole deal/ so the fannish investment in them being very clearly visibly different from elves is just kind of ??? #i occasionally wonder if it's partly the pj influence bc the movies neglected númenor so much and leaned hard into the mundanity of men #but i don't know for sure. it is genuinely funny to search that particular quote and see the flailing though! #anghraine babbles #legendarium fanwank #legendarium blogging #team dúnedain #númenórë #tv: lotr