New Challenge: Crossroads of the Fallen King
Cross "The Silmarillion" with a second text or fandom in this month's crossover challenge.
Tolkien is often criticized for his simplistic, knight-in-shining-armor heroes. This essay argues that heroism and masculinity in Tolkien's works are not premised on this, but on love and loyalty.
As a professor of Anglo-Saxon, Tolkien's stories are undeniably influenced by the literature of this early people. This essay considers how exile, fate, the warrior ideal, and masculinity in the Quenta Silmarillion were influenced by the Anglo-Saxon poem The Wanderer.