#disabled tolkien

[disabled-tolkien]

Once again thinking about the “Tolkien elves are physically superior to humans in every way” thing as a disability parallel

[frodothefair]

Tolkien Disability Pride Month

Honestly, so much of my LOTR fanfiction has to do with disabilities and disabled characters, that I thought I'd make a list, sorted by condition.

If you're interested in learning more, I would recommend my longfics (The Flowers of Mordor and The Golden Hall), since they engage with the disabilities the most and feature the largest swath of characters.

ADHD Éomer May Gamgee-Banks Jolly Banks (OC, hobbit, May's son)

CHRONIC PAIN Frodo - canonically confirmed

EATING DISORDER Sam Gamgee - trauma-induced binge eating disorder

LEARNING DISABILITY Marigold Gamgee - dyslexia

NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDER Bilbo (post-LOTR) - dementia

PHYSICAL DISABILITY Éothain - below the knee amputee, has a prosthetic leg Marigold Gamgee - has a limp due to poorly healed bone fracture, though it only shows up on difficult terrain

PTSD Éomer - canonically plausible Frodo - canonically very probable Lothíriel - milder version, would probably meet criteria for "trauma and stress related disorder" Marigold Gamgee - milder version

SOCIAL ANXIETY Elfhild (OC, Rohanese, Elfhelm's daughter) Marigold Gamgee

UNSPECIFIED NEURODIVERGENCE Ainslie (OC, Rohanese, the royal family's ward) - some combination of autism, developmental delay, possibly ADHD, and a fair bit of trauma

[disabled-tolkien]

☆ Month of Fic Recs ☆

For each day of September (which is disability pride month in Aotearoa) I'm sharing a Tolkien fanfiction with disabled characters.

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Day 19/30: the light that you keep burning there by @echo-bleu

Fandom: Silmarillion

Rating: T

Disabled character: Maglor (wheelchair user due to leg injuries)

Warnings: graphic depictions of violence, disability due to violence

Summary:

"Take this to your husband. It might tip the scale.”

Elwing stares at the Silmaril glowing in his hand. “You—”

“They are good for nothing if we’re all dead. The Valar wanted them once. Maybe if we’re willing to negotiate…”

Maedhros stops. The last tendril of the old Oath pulls at his vocal cords, powerless but nonetheless present, as if screaming for his betrayal.

“Take it to Eärendil,” he repeats. “Sail to Valinor. Do what we could not.”

*

The Havens of Sirion burn, and it is not the Sons of Fëanor’s doing.

Maedhros, Maglor and Fingon, in the years between the fall of the Havens and the arrival of the Host of the Valar.

☆☆☆☆☆

[disabled-tolkien]

☆ Month of Fic Recs ☆

For each day of September (which is disability pride month in Aotearoa) I'm sharing a Tolkien fanfiction with disabled characters.

☆☆☆☆☆

Day 30/30: Rescue, Recovery by @arofili

Fandom: Silmarillion

Rating: T

Disabled character: Maedhros and Gwindor (canonical limb disabilities)

Warnings: ableism

Summary: Maedhros visits Nargothrond for the sake of another one-handed survivor of Angband, but his motivations are not entirely altruistic.

☆☆☆☆☆

[disabled-tolkien]

I'm growing more and more enamored with the idea of Maeglin having borderline personality disorder. Hear me out.

I think that for him it's related to an unstable childhood and early life trauma, like many (but obviously not all) people with BPD. He ends up with an all-consuming fear of abandonment. He has difficulty forming relationships and has that all-or-nothing approach, adoration or detestation. Maeglin latches on to Idril like a drowning man, with all the intense desperation of someone terrified of abandonment and starving for love. Of course he's confused about whether he's romantically attracted to her.

He puts her on an unhealthy and unrealistic pedestal. He idolises Idril, and she recoils from the intensity of it. She rejects him. It's devastating.

He struggles with a lack of social skills. Because of that, he never really finds a place in Gondolin. His inability to form healthy stable bonds only worsens the already crushing feelings of worthlessness. Maeglin doesn't understand his emotional instability, and neither does anyone around him. He lashes out without meaning to. His repressed anger and trauma burst out at the smallest triggers. He becomes self-destructive, impulsive. He's overwhelmed with misery.

So he retreats into his mines in the mountains. He completely isolates himself, all alone where he can't hurt anyone and they can't hurt him.

They don't even notice when he goes missing.

[disabled-tolkien]

☆ Month of Fic Recs ☆

For each day of September (which is disability pride month in Aotearoa) I'm sharing a Tolkien fanfiction with disabled characters.

☆☆☆☆☆

Day 13/30: Ice Age(s) by Camille_LaChenille

Fandom: Silmarillion

Rating: G

Disabled character: Idril (double amputee)

Warnings: none

Summary: Ice skating through the ages, from Idril learning with her grandfather to Elrond perpetuating the familial tradition.

☆☆☆☆☆

[disabled-tolkien]

☆ Month of Fic Recs ☆

For each day of September (which is disability pride month in Aotearoa) I'm sharing a Tolkien fanfiction with disabled characters.

☆☆☆☆☆

Day 8/30: Sacred Darkness by ScreechTheMighty

Fandom: The Hobbit

Rating: G

Disabled character: blind Thranduil

Warnings: internalised ableism, disability due to violence

Summary: "It was dragon fire he had faced, wrath and ruin turned upon him. Even the magic of the elves could only do so much." At the end of an age, Thranduil faces some substantial changes in his life.

☆☆☆☆☆

[disabled-tolkien]

☆ Month of Fic Recs ☆

For each day of September (which is disability pride month in Aotearoa) I'm sharing a Tolkien fanfiction with disabled characters.

☆☆☆☆☆

Day 28/30: ilvanya by @arofili

Fandom: Silmarillion

Rating: T

Disabled character: Maedhros and Maedhros' daughter (both with limb disabilities)

Relationships: Maedhros/Fingon

Warnings: ableism, internalised ableism, trans pregnancy

Summary: In the peace of their re-embodied lives in Valinor, Maedhros and Fingon decide to have another child, bringing back memories both sweet and bitter of their son's childhood in Beleriand.

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