#each group in tolkien are biased and a bit racist but i choke on my drink if anyone claims the Noldor are the least racist

[squirrelwrangler]

I was rereading HoME & the way the Vanyar are described ("noble", "generous", "gentle", "blessed") really stood out to me. Do you think the Noldor had this weird attitude towards the Vanyar that was simultaneously pedestalization + condescension (a teeny bit like the noble savage trope)? Because the way they viewed the Teleri/Sindar/Edain was pretty iffy, so why are the Vanyar described in such positive terms? ((Asking because I really enjoy your meta & the historical connections you make))

Yep, I picked up on that too - and you’re also right in that the reason it comes across that why is because the Noldor in-universe and textually via author biases are very condescending and racist towards the Teleri/Sindar/mortal men. So the Vanyar as Fair Ones smacks of fetishization of their uncommon appearance and that physical beauty is that all they’re good for or why anyone would want them. Look at those pure simple farmers with their plain boring clothes and their mindless but pretty songs, just adoring this paradise and the Valar and how grateful that they don’t have to think about anything. Pure Arcadia. Not like us clever complicated Wise Noldor. 🙄

#replies #its envy and backhanded compliments #Vanyar aren’t Boring #each group in tolkien are biased and a bit racist but i choke on my drink if anyone claims the Noldor are the least racist #it rubs me weird that Vanyar women marry noldor but no mention of the reverse #also is there irony in the Arcadia idyllization trope popping up again but with Vanyar applying it to the Edain? yuuup