LOVE LIKE GHOSTS

Lily (晴) • 23 • uk • she/her  — mostly tolkien art blog @ehhhtelion || on twitter @itariilles

[itariilles]

Race in Tolkien Masterpost

I have compiled a list of some of the resources available on the topic of race and racism in Tolkien. By no means is this list exhaustive, and I welcome anyone to include their own additions which I will include and update on the original post when more resources are made available. 

If you are having any trouble accessing any of the links listed below, please shoot me a DM and I can either send you the PDF if it is an article, or a working link if available. 

Last updated 30/09/2023

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@antiracist-tolkien

@diversetolkien — The whole blog honestly, but these posts on Galadriel in particular as Ayesha, and the personification of Manifest Destiny. Her very important take on Eöl is linked below. 

@askmiddlearth — now defunct, but they have a downloadable guide on racism in Middle-Earth here. 

@tolkienillustrations’ post 

@maglors-anion-gap’s post and follow up on the Petty Dwarves and critique of Tolkien.

@chutzpah-haver’s post on Tolkien’s antisemitism in his portrayal of dwarves. 

@itariilles’s post and follow up on my personal experience of racism at a fan event, and the systemic problem of racism in fan spaces. I am looking to write more media interpretation/personal Tolkien essays in the future so keep your eyes peeled! 

Twitter

This thread by Helen Young explaining Tolkien the anti-nazi, but not anti-racist. 

@diversetolkien‘s twitter linked here. 

My twitter here. I will occasionally post about race and Tolkien, but the focus is more generalised on Tolkien fandom, media and reception. 

Youtube

(N.B. searching “Tolkien racism” or any variant will produce... interesting results to say the least. Lots of white people coming to the age-old “ToLKiEN WaSN’T rACIsT He hATEd nAziS AnD WAs A prODuCT oF hiS TiME” arguement. That or it’s the silly SJWs and cultural marxism/relativity yada yada yada.) 

"The Source of the Rings” series by Moth’s Audio and Videos. 

@visibilityofcolor‘s video essay on the “Brute Caricature Trope and its prevalence in media”. Eöl and Aredhel are touched on briefly in the video, but it points out how prevent this trope is in fantasy fiction overall. 

Marlon James, “Our Myths, Our Selves”. The seventh annual J.R.R Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature, Pembroke College, Oxford, 26th February, 2019. https://tolkienlecture.org/

The Prancing Pony Podcast, “114 - Race, Tolkien and Middle-Earth”.

Podcasts

Dani Holtz and Craig Franson, American ID Episode 1 “Eye of Sauron: Rings of Power” touches on the American right’s obsession with Lord of the Rings and the far-right trolls that have flooded Rings of Power with waves of racist and misogynistic hate.

Into It: A Vulture Podcast with Sam Sanders, Black Hobbits and the Whiteness of Fantasy (Plus: What Are Abbi Jacobson and Chanté Adams Into?) touches on black characters in fantasy and the Rings of Power TV adaptation about 17 minutes in. 

Other blog posts

Stronach, Alex. “Aotearoa is not Middle-earth” The Spinoff, 2020, https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/03-09-2020/aotearoa-is-not-middle-earth

Echo-Hawk, Roger. “Tolkienland.” Would highly recommend reading all of his blog posts. Link to his book “Tolkien in Pawneeland” listed below! http://tolkienland.wordpress.com/

Fimi, Dimitra. "Was Tolkien Really Racist?". The Conversation, 2018, https://theconversation.com/was-tolkien-really-racist-108227.

Fimi, Dimitra. “Revisiting Race in Tolkien’s Legendarium: Constructing Cultures and Ideologies in an Imaginary World”. Dimitra Fimi, 2018, https://dimitrafimi.com/2018/12/02/revisiting-race-in-tolkiens-legendarium-constructing-cultures-and-ideologies-in-an-imaginary-world/.

Yatt, John. “Wraiths and Race” The Guardian, 2002, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/dec/02/jrrtolkien.lordoftherings

Crossley, Laura. “Stand, Men of the West! The Battle for Middle-Earth (and Britain)” Film International, 2015, http://filmint.nu/stand-men-of-the-west-the-battle-for-middle-earth-and-britain/

Crossley, Laura, “Multicultural Middle-earth: Constructing “Home” and the Imaginary in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings” Film International, 2014, http://filmint.nu/multicultural-middle-earth-constructing-home-and-the-post-colonial-imaginary-in-peter-jacksons-the-lord-of-the-rings/

BNP, “No 2,110″ The Guardian, 2012, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/dec/20/thefarright.lordoftheringsfilms

Perry, D. and Young, H. “HOW CAN WE UNTANGLE WHITE SUPREMACY FROM MEDIEVAL STUDIES? A conversation with Australian scholar Helen Young”. Pacific Standard, 2017, https://psmag.com/education/untangling-white-supremacy-from-medieval-studies.

No Alternative. “Lord of the Rings and structural Orientalism” No Alternative, 2012, https://noalternative.org/2012/09/14/lord-of-the-rings-and-structural-orientalism/

Hodes, J. “Orcs, Britons, And The Martial Race Myth, Part I: A Species Built For Racial Terror”. James Mendez Hodes, 2019, https://jamesmendezhodes.com/blog/2019/1/13/orcs-britons-and-the-martial-race-myth-part-i-a-species-built-for-racial-terror.

Stone, Ryan. "‘The Daily’ Transcript: Interview With Former White Nationalist Derek Black". The New York Times, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/podcasts/the-daily-transcript-derek-black.html. The use of LOTR to recruit white nationalism is mentioned. 

Lopes, Reinaldo José. “In the skin of the elves: to what extent is “The Lord of the Rings” tainted by racism?”. Super Interessante, 2022,  Original portuguese: https://super-abril-com-br.translate.goog/cultura/na-pele-dos-elfos-ate-que-ponto-o-senhor-dos-aneis-e-contaminado-pelo-racismo/?fbclid=IwAR2A3DZlYsn56Esr9iWUkfHDGI57b_mBUZj7aFxvfl692A310lf69mKx1ek&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp English Translation: https://super-abril-com-br.translate.goog/cultura/na-pele-dos-elfos-ate-que-ponto-o-senhor-dos-aneis-e-contaminado-pelo-racismo/?fbclid=IwAR2A3DZlYsn56Esr9iWUkfHDGI57b_mBUZj7aFxvfl692A310lf69mKx1ek&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Young, Helen. “The Rings of Power is suffering a racist backlash for casting actors of colour – but Tolkien’s work has always attracted white supremacists”. The Conversation, 2022. https://theconversation.com/the-rings-of-power-is-suffering-a-racist-backlash-for-casting-actors-of-colour-but-tolkiens-work-has-always-attracted-white-supremacists-189963. 

Rambaran-Olm, Mary. “DEAR AMAZON PRIME, I’M NOT A RACIST, BUT WHY ARE YOU DESTROYING MY PRECIOUS MIDDLE-EARTH WITH BLACK HOBBITS?”. Religion Dispatches, 2022. https://religiondispatches.org/dear-amazon-prime-im-not-a-racist-but-why-are-you-destroying-my-precious-middle-earth-with-black-hobbits/ (this article is satirical btw.) 

Serwer, Adam. “Fear of a Black Hobbit”. The Atlantic, 2022. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/lord-of-the-rings-rings-of-power-fantasy-sci-fi-racist-criticism/671421/

Page, Carolyn. “The Unfortunate Stereotype Reinforced By The Harfoots In 'Rings Of Power'”. Cracked, 2022. https://www.cracked.com/article_35418_the-unfortunate-stereotype-reinforced-by-the-harfoots-in-rings-of-power.html

Welch, Andy. “‘Irish people have faced centuries of discrimination’: why are Lord of the Rings’ accents so offensively bad?”. The Guardian, 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/sep/28/irish-people-have-faced-centuries-of-discrimination-why-are-lord-of-the-rings-accents-so-offensively-bad?fbclid=IwAR1Hd8eikkx1aqxmsFf6tzv7W89kO6Q_VUWiGbrO2R4EvBhNPCMsiEyyugs

Blair, Andrew. “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Why Fandom Has To Embrace Change”. Den of Geek, 2022. https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-why-fandom-has-to-embrace-change/

@diversetolkien. “Maeglin and Eöl, and the Brute Caricature Trope:”. Diverse Tolkien, 2019, https://diversetolkien.wixsite.com/website/post/what-we-can-learn-from-plants.

@weirdnaturalscience. “Our Failure to Address LOTR’s Racism”. tolkienaboutscifi, 2016, https://tolkienaboutscifi.wordpress.com/2016/12/21/our-failure-to-address-lotrs-racism/.

Not really a blog post but Tolkien Gateway has a page on “Racism in Tolkien’s Works”. Treat it with the same degree of skepticism you would on a wikipedia page. 

Published academia

(N.B. The visible academic “authorities” of race and racism in Tolkien are white and this is something one must bear in mind when reading this kind of work. There is a lot of discussion on theory and historical context, but there is little on the harm and stereotypes perpetuated by Tolkien’s racialist thoughts a person of colour may read/perceive differently.)  

Mills, Charles W. "The Wretched Of Middle‐Earth: An Orkish Manifesto ☆". The Southern Journal Of Philosophy, 2022. Wiley, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/sjp.12477.

I implore you to read this one in particular as it is one of the only existing pieces of postcolonial critique written by a black Jamaican author. It’s hidden behind a paywall, and DM me if you can’t access it through the link above.

Kim, Sue. “BEYOND BLACK AND WHITE: RACE AND POSTMODERNISM IN ‘THE LORD OF THE RINGS FILMS.’” Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 50, no. 4, 2004, pp. 875–907. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26286383.

Rearick, Anderson. “WHY IS THE ONLY GOOD ORC A DEAD ORC? THE DARK FACE OF RACISM EXAMINED IN TOLKIEN'S WORLD.” Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 50, no. 4, 2004, pp. 861–874. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26286382.

Brackmann, Rebecca. ""Dwarves are Not Heroes": Antisemitism and the Dwarves in J.R.R. Tolkien's Writing." Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature, Vol. 28, No. 3, 2010, Article 7. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol28/iss3/7 

Reid, Robin Anne. "Race In Tolkien Studies: A Bibliographic Essay." Tolkien And Alterity, 2017, pp. 33-74. Springer International Publishing, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-61018-4_3. Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-61018-4_3. This article can also be accessed by contacting me via DM as I have permission from the author to circulate it in this capacity. 

Baker, Dallas John. “Writing back to Tolkien: gender, sexuality and race in high fantasy.” Recovering history through fact and fiction: forgotten lives, 2017. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom, pp. 123-143. ISBN 978-1-5275-0325-0. Available at: https://eprints.usq.edu.au/33493/#:~:text=It%20suggests%20that%20the%20privileged,arising%20from%20those%20privileged%20readings.

Pratama, Fredy W. et al., “Orientalism and Religious Aspects on Characters and Objects In J.R.R Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings : A Semiotic Analysis” Artikel Hasil Penelitian Mahasiswa 2013, I (1): 1-8. Available at: http://repository.unej.ac.id/bitstream/handle/123456789/60741/Fredy%20Widya.pdf;sequence=1

Winegar, Astrid. “Aspects of Orientalism in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.” The Grey Book, Volume 1, 2005. Available at: https://anyflip.com/njuf/pwvi/basic

Redmond, Sean. “The whiteness of the Rings.” Routledge, 2007. Available at: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203939741-13/whiteness-rings-sean-redmond

Fimi, Dimitra. Tolkien, Race, And Cultural History. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. (Amazon UK link)

Young, H. Race And Popular Fantasy Literature. 1st ed. New York: Routledge, 2015. (Amazon UK link)

Echo-Hawk, Roger. Tolkien in Pawneeland. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013. (Amazon UK link)

[echo-bleu]

Day 21: Some post-Angband Maedhros research. Most fics/art set during his recovery have him recover physically quite fast, missing hand notwithstanding, but I want to explore other options.

Disabled characters series

Rambling under the cut, ID in alt.

[Discussion of his canon torture and injuries, going a tiny bit more in depth]

So aside from the previous torture, for which we can invent basically anything, he was hanging from the wrist for 30 years. I'm pretty sure that would kill a human in a matter of hours, but since he survived, in my mind he's got some serious shoulder and spine issues. Those stay for the rest of his life, but with a combination of support garments, elf-PT and just sheer force of will, he does manage to walk again and fight. I don't think he ever gets a great range of motion or much feeling back in his right arm.

This is me making use of one of my weirdest special interests (medical immobilization devices). I have a bunch of different design ideas for braces at other stages of his recovery, and this is just basic research for now. Here he still needs his arm in slight abduction and full support for his spine, and the big metal arm thing is correcting the angle of his shoulder (otherwise it is very dissymmetrical with the other).

In my mind, this is maybe a year after his rescue. 30 years of torture aside, I also headcanon that elves might heal more (as in, they can survive a lot more) than men but they also heal slower in the same way they grow up slower. Not pictured here is the fact that he's still mostly using a wheelchair.

This is a wild mix of pre-50 spine braces, modern shoulder and back braces and pure fantasy, and it's probably the simplest of the designs I have in mind 😅 Design-wise, I was thinking about the fact that it was probably made by Curufin people used to making armour, so it's the same materials (steel and leather) and similar kind of shapes. It would perhaps be more decorated because Noldor but I didn't have time for that today.

[silmaspens]

A brief reunion in the Halls

[seasbird]

commission of my beloved makalaurë for @samarqqand 💙 thank you so much!

[ayaosguqin]

Peace in paradise

[someoneinthestars]

↳ And there in the forest of Neldoreth Lúthien was born, and the white flowers of niphredil came forth to greet her as stars from the earth.

✦ | ✦ | ✦ | ✦

[littlestpersimmon]

Hey friends! I get paid by patreon tomorrow, so I was thinking of sharing my page here in case anyone wants to subscribe to it-

If you've ever wanted to see more of my art I don't post anywhere, it would mean the world to me if you guys could boost my patreon ♡ I really want to restart ssris to manage my ocd better, if you'd like to help at all ♡- I'm also only 40 usd short from my goal on patreon! Thank you so much!

Adding the link in an rb so tumblr doesn't kill the post ♡

[littlestpersimmon]

My patreon is here! (Link)

[littlestpersimmon]

Hi friends. Added new art to my patreon page.

I only ask for 1 usd each month ♡ and only 20 usd short from my patreon goal. I have about 200 exclusive drawings up there, maybe you'd like to come and see ♡ any help means the world and beyond to me!

[marukoshiasu]

Our girls Findis and Írimë!

I missed @finweanladiesweek 😭

[maglors-anion-gap]

I've been mulling something over lately. It's almost a given that one will find questionable elements to older texts; some are overt and some sneaky even to the modern eye. There are, undeniably, many such elements in Tolkien's work, and they cause a lot of trouble for marginalized readers and for fan creators grappling with it in relation to meta and fic.

That the Silmarillion is a largely-omniscient myth-text narrative, composed from a variety of drafts, the discarded versions of which we also have access to, further compounds the issue. Who has read what? Who samples from what? How deeply do some themes pervade both the text and the fandom? There are discarded portions that raise eyebrows (and thankfully, were edited out at some point). However, there are moments where those discarded portions shine through the cracks in exposition, dialogue and reasoning left in the official composite text by the sweeping style of the narrative. The composite can be seen to still rest on certain narrative and valuational presuppositions of Tolkien's - presuppositions he assumes the reader to share.

In the text, of course some have value or more of it, some have honor or more of it, some overcome darkness while some naturally succumb to it. The narrative certainty in these characterizations rests on these lurking (racist, antisemitic, ableist) presuppositions, and in some cases handwaves any deeper exploration or explanation.

There seem to be two fan solutions to reckoning with a cross-draft-consistent bigoted theme. 1) Write meta that explores its traits and manifestations in the text and syncretizes canon assertions with authorial biases, and/or fic that directly addresses the in-text impact of these biases. 2) With an awareness of the bigoted themes, create headcanons, new verses, and fic that subverts, rewrites, or negates the original theme. The former refuses to allow the presuppositions of the text to become the presuppositions of the fandom. The latter allows (particularly marginalized) fans generative space, fodder to create anew, breathing room, and expanded perspectives. Different functions, parallel purposes, both important.

Because it's fandom, and it's large, and our idea of on-the-side fun and not our job or our marriage, we do not have the same preferences for how we go about dealing with these textual issues or the cohesive pressure to be like minded (even as we recognize the need to deal with them). One person's way of reckoning with textual biases or gaps may strike another as reaching too far from canon to be of appeal. This is a common reaction to headcanons, canon divergences and alternate universes, and crack or humor, particularly in the tolkien fandom. However, personal preference is not a basis for asserting that someone is reading the text wrong, especially when the issue at hand is one of reparative analysis and creation.

I am drawn to the issue of the Petty Dwarves. Most information on them comes in pieces from disparate drafts and satellite texts. Some information was erased entirely from the published Silmarillion. However, many people have noted the continual issues in Tolkien's treatment of the Dwarves, the iterative issues with his treatment of the Petty Dwarves, and rightly begin to link the two, plumb them down to their connecting factor, and begin excavating the silences in the narrative which Tolkien allows to be filled by presupposition.

I have found that people who cite personal preference may bring up canon elements to excuse or disprove certain readings; I would argue that the canon elements cited are less often exculpatory of our faves and more often proof of deeper biases, proof of biased presupposition as a stand in for rich characterization. Let me explain. We hear from the Sindar that the Petty Dwarves are reclusive, aggressive, and territorial (on this they base their initial assessment that the Petty Dwarves are two-legged animals for hunting). We hear from the Dwarves who cross the Blue Mountains later that the Petty Dwarves descend from expelled Dwarves who were the smallest, weakest, most conniving and self-serving, and violent persons. At one point, Tolkien describes the Petty Dwarves as older residents in Beleriand than both the Sindar and the eastern Dwarves, and the original inhabitants of Nargothrond, and it is them who Finrod hires to finish its construction. Tolkien describes the Petty Dwarves as agreeing to do this under false and duplicitous pretenses (for what reason, he doesn't say); later, Mim tries to kill Finrod (again, the narrative is sparse on motive), and Finrod alternately outs the Petty Dwarves from Nargothrond or pays the other Dwarves to turn them out. Tolkien evidently means for this to paint a picture of a group of people who are inherently wicked, cannot help but be so, are hated and pitied (for one does not preclude the other, and all good people should pity bad people, after all), and bring about their own diminishment. There's the in-universe justification for it.

I mean to explore why it is not satisfactory to leave the matter alone at "the Petty Dwarves brought about their own downfall." To begin, why does Tolkien rely on the characteristics he does when describing both the Petty Dwarves and Dwarves in general? These are multiple pieces of bigotry at play, chiefly some old antisemitic stereotypes (which have already been unpacked at length and by Jewish fans who are more knowledgable than I; if other have more to add, please do so). But I will give it a try.

First, Tolkien never pins down why the Petty Dwarves are expelled westward, only vaguely pinning it on their inborn characteristics. One old piece of antisemitism held that Jewish people were smaller and weaker than gentiles; Jewish men are still held to be less masculine, which can be traced from a medieval supposition that Jewish men menstruated. Coupled with the ableism of expelling the stunted and the inutile, Tolkien describes here a sort of itinerant and pitiful scrounger who does not belong in a society to which it cannot contribute and into which it cannot assimilate. The concept of vagrancy and the homelandlessness (consider the antisemitism in the concept of the cosmopolitan Jew, and Tolkien's deliberate linkage of Dwarves and losing their homes), is further connected to antisemitism by the Petty Dwarves being duplicitous, self-serving backstabbers toward Finrod, who Tolkien sets up as innocent and trusting enough to sleep unguarded near Mim, further juxtaposing the two. Furthermore, the gentile assertion that Jewish people are violent is escalated to accusations of blood libel and sorcery. Tolkien may not go that far, but he ties this predisposition for violence into the passage about Nargothrond, and their territorial defensiveness and their aggression toward the Sindar. Jewish people have long been stereotyped as insular, traditional, and cold to outsiders (consider the gentile furor over "goy"). All of this passes under the surface of the text - where Tolkien does not elaborate, this rises to the surface to color the reading.

When fans identify these elements in the text (and realize they are very similar to Tolkien's handling of the Dwarvish sacking of Doriath, or gold sickness, or Dwarvish isolationism as a whole), they begin to investigate the places they show up in text. The meta they write must try to syncretize the canon of what is said with the authorial context applied in the characterization. The fic they write must try to fill in lazy gaps left, and to imagine and then confront the missing exigence to the conflict while refuting the antisemitic presuppositions upon which the text relies in place of characterization.

Because it's fanwork, some people may have concepts that you think miss the mark or push further with assertions than you think is logical. However, no one who is in good faith creating, exploring, or trying to remedy the issues of the text, can be accused of using their ideas as a cudgel against canon or against others. Discussion is welcome, when it is conducted in good faith as well.

Relying too heavily on the surface-level assertions of canon to shoot down these musings at times verges upon what I have described above: leaning into the in-world justifications of hierarchy and subjugation to excuse the real-world hierarchies upon which these presuppositions are built. It is not so important how or when the Sindar realized the Petty Dwarves were people: what matters is that Tolkien created a character group, designed to be hated and pitied but never respected, onto whom he mapped real world stereotypes, and set them up in events where these stereotypes lead. It's highly worth considering why we are defending portions of text that are inherently bigoted. The whole broth here is the issue, but people are quibbling over whether they've fished out a potato versus a turnip.

[maglors-anion-gap]

@meadowlarkx no need to apologize, your tags are very compatible with my post! Sorry to yoink them into reblog thread but I wanted to share them.

A further issue with the multiple drafts is that people have their own favorite (and therefore more personally canon) ones. I also really like the published Silm, I think it works great as a standalone text (and one can do lots of analysis about Silm-specific issues, even separate from tracking how alternative drafts or old opinions got soaked up into it). At least personally, when I’m stumped by trying to distill a coherent cross-draft canon (which is always), I divert instead to identifying discrete issues so that I can at least avoid mimicking them. Like you said, cleaving so strongly to canon causes a lot of issues, particularly when it’s like. Which bit of canon? Trying to iron out a canon before we can talk about the issues of The One Canon is a self-defeating endeavor.

There’s a lot to unpack about Tolkien’s Dwarves, and between drafts I think we can even see Tolkien get uncomfortable with what he’s written. I leaned very heavily on the gaps in the narrative being filled with presupposition. But, I’m glad you brought up that as a myth-text, it doesn’t necessarily offer specific instruction on how to feel about some of the myths. Once the reader is wise to the presence of presupposition, and can lift it off, I think it’s much easier to interpret the myth with nuance and even identify where the text is uncomfortable with the assertions it makes and recognize like you said, that the text is presenting something but not necessarily supporting it.

In the case of the hunting of the petty dwarves, I think we can definitely see the text present this as a horrifying thing and a moment where powerful people do a bad thing to a less powerful people. Furthermore, I think the text calls out how we should be wary of how we center ourselves and our context in real life, because if we’re so focused on our own paradigm, we’ll likely hurt people/things that don’t share our paradigm, and only come to recognize it when some more sympathetic middle man points it out (as is the case of the eastern Dwarves putting a stop to Sindar Petty-Dwarf hunting).

And still, the traits Tolkien gives the Petty Dwarves are a narrative crutch, meant to evoke disgust and pity by calling upon ancient canards (the presupposition at work). So as you say, no conversation can be had when one side wields a defense of canon in such a manner - particularly when the defense of canon is really a defense of the presupposition, and not actually a call to investigate how canon itself offers a nuanced and less-complimentary picture of its heroes in those narrative silences. (And there’s already a basis for textual flawed heroes - Turin is a great example of the text creating a hero that overtly does bad or foolish things).

I think you bring up something important with fic. Saying it all and saying it clearly is something I struggle deeply with in regard to meta (see the issues with first needing to pin down canon) that isn’t confined strictly to one text or another. I think people get turned upside down and confuse fic for meta, like a fic is a declaration of canon analysis, canon compliance, or universal theory. And sometimes it can be, but like you said, it’s about hilighting things to tell a new story (… transformation…).

Thus we must accept that fic can be allowed to say things without needing to be meta. Similarly we must accept that a fic doesn’t need to say everything at once, and that the presence of one hi-lighted element in a fic doesn’t mean that the author scorns other elements or is making a unified statement of truth in what they choose to hi-light for that fic. I think about this a lot because I struggle to write long fic and multi chapter fic, so most of what people read from me are brief windows into larger things I hold in my head, and the pressure to make everything in my head fit into that small window (to the detriment of POV, thematic story telling, etc) so as to avoid accusations of short-sightedness makes me not want to write.

I think you're right that in the end, fostering that sort of critical atmosphere is going to chase away people who already have the most tenuous footing and acceptance in the fandom (namely marginalized fans or anyone who is not willing to swallow the idea that the presupposition and canon are one and the same).

Ahhhh this got long again. My apologies to your dash. Thank you for leaving such a detailed message.

[littlebeesart]

Happy indigenous day!💛

These were created over the last year or so when i indigenized popular media✨

[ehhhtelion]

Fingolfin speedpaint from twitter

[laurasimonsdaughter]

Came back wrong this, came back monstrous that

What if they came back loving? What if they came back in love. What if the necromancy worked and you cheated death and it's everything you've ever wanted, but now they love you in a way they never did before and you cannot know if that is because they finally know the lengths you are willing to go for them, or because something in this deathless magic bound their soul to yours to guide them home and it left them no. choice.

[racebenttolkienfanartsurvey]

Race in Tolkien Fan Art Survey

Utúlie’n aurë! Thank you for visiting this survey about race and fan art in the Tolkien fandom. The purpose of this project is to gain a fuller understanding of racial diversity in Tolkien fanart. CRITERIA FOR TAKING THIS SURVEY: Tolkien fans who: + are over 18 years of age + regularly see and interact with fan art through liking, commenting, and/or reblogging + are located anywhere in the world + Bonus: create Tolkien-inspired fan art! are welcome to take this survey! However, our main interest is Fingon the Valiant from The Silmarillion, particularly when portrayed as a Black elf in fan art. We are especially hoping to hear from Tolkien fan artists who depict this Fingon. ~ NOTE #1: For the purposes of this survey, we are defining "fan art" very broadly, to include traditional art and digital art [2D or 3D] as well as fanvids, gifs or gifsets, manips, edits, fancasts, etc. ~ NOTE #2: We use “Black Fingon” as shorthand for any artistic depictions of this character having skin tone, hair texture, and/or facial structure associated with social markers of Blackness in contemporary society. We also consider racial diversity in terms of contemporary societal constructions, more than in regard to Middle-earth races such as Elves and Dwarves. WHAT TO EXPECT: If you choose to participate, you will be asked approximately 15 questions about Tolkien fan art, where you see/engage with it, and how you think about it. This survey will include both multiple-choice and open/fill-in-the-blank questions. Most questions, including demographics, are optional. You can answer open questions in as much or as little detail as you want. The survey should take about 20 minutes to complete, depending on how many open questions you want to answer and how much detail you choose to provide. You can also leave the survey without completing it at any time. RISKS OR DISCOMFORTS: This survey is anonymized by design, as the researchers have seen that fans' or scholars' thoughtful discussions and criticisms regarding race in Tolkien's work can lead to harassment. With its particular design, though, the risks of this survey are minimal. You may feel upset thinking about, or writing down information related to, personal experience past or present; however, we believe that this is similar to what you might experience when discussing the same personal experiences with others. You are also free to skip any of the open-answer questions that you feel uncomfortable answering. CONFIDENTIALITY AND YOUR DATA: Your responses are completely confidential, and no identifying information (IP address, legal name, email or address, etc.) is being collected. The optional information that is collected, if any, cannot be used to identify you. This survey has been reviewed by the University of Utah Institutional Board (IRB). ABOUT THE RESEARCHERS: This survey is being conducted by two Tolkien scholars and fans, Megan B. Abrahamson and Maria K. Alberto, as part of their work on a chapter on Tolkien fan art, forthcoming in _Race, Racisms, and Racists: Essays on J. R. R. Tolkien's Legendarium, Adaptations, and Readers_, edited by Robin Anne Reid. Thus, survey findings and answers may be published (in aggregate or specifically) in this chapter and future work. You can visit us on Tumblr at https://racebenttolkienfanartsurvey.tumblr.com/. Also, if you have any questions about this survey or our work, you can message us there or write to us at [email protected]!

[runawaymun]

hanging out 🌸

ko-fi, accepting commissions!

[thefashbasher]

“But when Tuor had lived thus in solitude as an outlaw for four years, Ulmo set it in his heart to depart from the land of his fathers, for he had chosen Tuor as the instrument of his designs […] ”

[itariilles]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

“But in the bearing of her son Míriel was consumed in spirit and body; and after his birth she yearned for release from the labour of living.” or, the version in which míriel remains until fëanor is an adult and she has his permission to depart

i forgot that i could post my ao3 fic links on here too

[littlestpersimmon]

they who watch over the woodlands