theelegantbookworm

[theelegantbookworm]

Bernard Hill

1944 - 2024

[theelegantbookworm]

Aegnor & Andreth.

You are no Beren, nor I Lúthien— our fates are sundered by the fathomless Sea.

[theelegantbookworm]

all RIGHT:

Why You're Writing Medieval (and Medieval-Coded) Women Wrong: A RANT

(Or, For the Love of God, People, Stop Pretending Victorian Style Gender Roles Applied to All of History)

This is a problem I see alllll over the place - I'll be reading a medieval-coded book and the women will be told they aren't allowed to fight or learn or work, that they are only supposed to get married, keep house and have babies, &c &c.

If I point this out ppl will be like "yes but there was misogyny back then! women were treated terribly!" and OK. Stop right there.

By & large, what we as a culture think of as misogyny & patriarchy is the expression prevalent in Victorian times - not medieval. (And NO, this is not me blaming Victorians for their theme park version of "medieval history". This is me blaming 21st century people for being ignorant & refusing to do their homework).

Yes, there was misogyny in medieval times, but 1) in many ways it was actually markedly less severe than Victorian misogyny, tyvm - and 2) it was of a quite different type. (Disclaimer: I am speaking specifically of Frankish, Western European medieval women rather than those in other parts of the world. This applies to a lesser extent in Byzantium and I am still learning about women in the medieval Islamic world.)

So, here are the 2 vital things to remember about women when writing medieval or medieval-coded societies

FIRST. Where in Victorian times the primary axes of prejudice were gender and race - so that a male labourer had more rights than a female of the higher classes, and a middle class white man would be treated with more respect than an African or Indian dignitary - In medieval times, the primary axis of prejudice was, overwhelmingly, class. Thus, Frankish crusader knights arguably felt more solidarity with their Muslim opponents of knightly status, than they did their own peasants. Faith and age were also medieval axes of prejudice - children and young people were exploited ruthlessly, sent into war or marriage at 15 (boys) or 12 (girls). Gender was less important.

What this meant was that a medieval woman could expect - indeed demand - to be treated more or less the same way the men of her class were. Where no ancient legal obstacle existed, such as Salic law, a king's daughter could and did expect to rule, even after marriage.

Women of the knightly class could & did arm & fight - something that required a MASSIVE outlay of money, which was obviously at their discretion & disposal. See: Sichelgaita, Isabel de Conches, the unnamed women fighting in armour as knights during the Third Crusade, as recorded by Muslim chroniclers.

Tolkien's Eowyn is a great example of this medieval attitude to class trumping race: complaining that she's being told not to fight, she stresses her class: "I am of the house of Eorl & not a serving woman". She claims her rights, not as a woman, but as a member of the warrior class and the ruling family. Similarly in Renaissance Venice a doge protested the practice which saw 80% of noble women locked into convents for life: if these had been men they would have been "born to command & govern the world". Their class ought to have exempted them from discrimination on the basis of sex.

So, tip #1 for writing medieval women: remember that their class always outweighed their gender. They might be subordinate to the men within their own class, but not to those below.

SECOND. Whereas Victorians saw women's highest calling as marriage & children - the "angel in the house" ennobling & improving their men on a spiritual but rarely practical level - Medievals by contrast prized virginity/celibacy above marriage, seeing it as a way for women to transcend their sex. Often as nuns, saints, mystics; sometimes as warriors, queens, & ladies; always as businesswomen & merchants, women could & did forge their own paths in life

When Elizabeth I claimed to have "the heart & stomach of a king" & adopted the persona of the virgin queen, this was the norm she appealed to. Women could do things; they just had to prove they were Not Like Other Girls. By Elizabeth's time things were already changing: it was the Reformation that switched the ideal to marriage, & the Enlightenment that divorced femininity from reason, aggression & public life.

For more on this topic, read Katherine Hager's article "Endowed With Manly Courage: Medieval Perceptions of Women in Combat" on women who transcended gender to occupy a liminal space as warrior/virgin/saint.

So, tip #2: remember that for medieval women, wife and mother wasn't the ideal, virgin saint was the ideal. By proving yourself "not like other girls" you could gain significant autonomy & freedom.

Finally a bonus tip: if writing about medieval women, be sure to read writing on women's issues from the time so as to understand the terms in which these women spoke about & defended their ambitions. Start with Christine de Pisan.

I learned all this doing the reading for WATCHERS OF OUTREMER, my series of historical fantasy novels set in the medieval crusader states, which were dominated by strong medieval women! Book 5, THE HOUSE OF MOURNING (forthcoming 2023) will focus, to a greater extent than any other novel I've ever yet read or written, on the experience of women during the crusades - as warriors, captives, and political leaders. I can't wait to share it with you all!

[theelegantbookworm]

Love Tolkien? Read or Write Fanfiction?

We’ve had one Tolkien fanfiction study- what about Second Tolkien Fanfiction study?

Haleth

Eärien from The Rings of Power

Lothiriel of Dol Amroth

Aragorn and Arwen’s Daughters

If you write or read Tolkien fanfiction about any of these characters, I’d love to talk to you as part of my PhD research into the depiction of Tolkien’s female characters in fanfiction.

#lord of the rings #tolkien #silmarillion #lotr #fanfiction

[theelegantbookworm]

Nolofinwë, Irissë and Turukáno with little daughter. Somewhere in Helcaraxë after Elenwë's death.

Do not use without my permission, please!

Больше моих работ по ссылке - не забудь подписаться прежде, чем унести на Пинтерест😉

[theelegantbookworm]

A brief reunion in the Halls

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[theelegantbookworm]

Happy International Hobbit Day!

[theelegantbookworm]

Title: Remarkable STORY LINK by Caiti (@caiti-creative-corner) - revealing on 9/8!! ART LINK by The Elegant Bookworm @theelegantbookworm - already available to squeal over! Check it out! Rating: T Notes: Slight enough AU to overlook; written for @tolkienrsb Relationships: Gandalf and The Took Family Characters: Gandalf, Belladonna Took, Donnamira Took, Mirabella Took, Gerontius Took, and cameos by Frerin, Arathorn, Glorfindel, & Bilbo Baggins Word count: 5,083 words A story summary: Gandalf the Wizard had a special connection to the Tooks . . . which is why he felt so surprised by Bilbo's greeting on that bright morning when he sought a little help for an adventure.

[theelegantbookworm]

"Remarkable" my fanart of the three daughters of the Old Took for Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang. A fantastic author wrote a fic to go along with it that will be revealed on September 1st!

#tolkien reverse summer bang #belladonna took #lotr #the hobbit

[theelegantbookworm]

I saw a post saying that Boromir looked too scruffy in FotR for a Captain of Gondor, and I tried to move on, but I’m hyperfixating. Has anyone ever solo backpacked? I have. By the end, not only did I look like shit, but by day two I was talking to myself. On another occasion I did fourteen days’ backcountry as the lone woman in a group of twelve men, no showers, no deodorant, and brother, by the end of that we were all EXTREMELY feral. You think we looked like heirs to the throne of anywhere? We were thirteen wolverines in ripstop.

My boy Boromir? Spent FOUR MONTHS in the wilderness! Alone! No roads! High floods! His horse died! I’m amazed he showed up to Imladris wearing clothes, let alone with a decent haircut. I’m fully convinced that he left Gondor looking like Richard Sharpe being presented to the Prince Regent in 1813

*electric guitar riff*

And then rocked up to Imladris a hundred ten days later like

[theelegantbookworm]

[theelegantbookworm]

101 Comment Starters

I began working on this last summer. Like many veteran fanfiction authors, I lament the decline in commenting that I’ve seen in my fandom, the Tolkien fandom. I’m also a humanities teacher, so I spend a good part of my day teaching young people how to write, and one lesson I’ve learned the hard way is that each type of writing involves unique skills that have to be learned. And commenting is a unique form of writing and one that comes with added stresses around social expectations and public performance. My research on the Tolkien fanfic community confirms this: Many people want to comment, but they simply don’t know what to say.

As a teacher of writing, I often use  sentence starters or mentor sentences. The writer uses these to jumpstart their thinking and writing, until they become comfortable enough to begin working independently. “101 Comment Starters” is built around this research-based strategy of teaching writing.

Some of the comment starters are simple enough that they can be merely copied and pasted. Others require filling in some blanks or providing some elaboration. In some cases, a because can be dropped if the reader isn’t comfortable providing that level of elaboration yet. In other cases, a more experienced commenter can add the because and elaborate more on their comment.

They also differ in their level of praise. They range from simple statements of how the author made the reader feel to compliments around an aspect of the author’s writing or their work in general. I’ve tried to limit words like really, very, and so as much as possible, except when it made the comment feel wooden. You’re welcome, of course, to add those words in if you feel they more accurately help capture how a story impacted you.

If you’re just starting to comment, please keep in mind that the vast majority of authors will love to hear from you! They don’t care how long or elaborate your comment is. They don’t care if your English is perfect or if you’re a little awkward. They just want to know that you’re reading and enjoying their work.

Finally, please feel free to reblog and share and add your own comment starters!

101 Comment Starters

Keep reading

[theelegantbookworm]

Okay, I finished the main images that have been plaguing my brain, so help yourself to: Gondor-Rohan Weddin Day, AU Edition

BROTHER HONOR GUARD

Also details because we all know I love symbolism: Eowyn's carrying Theoden's sword, and she has a Gondorian medal of honor and seabird-wing necklace, while Faramir has a Rohanian crest.

After all the tragedy and trauma, you know--you know--Boromir and Eomer would spend all day being stupid giddy and trying to start shit to cover up for it.

With help from Merry and Pippin

Get him, Eowyn

Who's that in the crowd eyeballing the Third Marshal of the Riddermark?

Final shot for everyone who's obsessed with Boromir's awesome hugs

Okay I have to stop for now or I'm gonna miss a plane, byeee

[theelegantbookworm]

Hi,

It’s you friendly neighbor fanfic author here. In the light of this apparent new trend of people feeding unfinished fics to AI to get an “ending,” and some people even talking about “blanket permissions,” let me just say this:

I EXPLICITLY FORBID ANYONE TO FEED MY FICS TO AI. DUDE, THAT IS ABOUT THE LEAST RESPECTFUL THING YOU CAN DO. IF YOU DO IT, SHALL YOU BE EXCOMMUNICATED FROM YOUR FANDOM AND WALK ON LEGOS BAREFOOT TILL THE END OF DAYS.

That is my anti-permission.

Thank you for your attention.

[theelegantbookworm]

Touching base here as well as email NOT to be a pest or pushy, but because I know how technology can be. I figured reaching out on both would be safest. So I picked up your artwork for TRSB - #98 - and I'm so thrilled to get to do something for the sisters!

Hi! I just replied to your email :)

I'm excited to be collabing with you and can't wait to read the story you come up with!

[theelegantbookworm]

“And then–! And then, Ada, and then–!”

—

Celeborn and little Celebrían. I picture Celebrían as a total Daddy’s Girl :>