Tolkien through an Aromantic Lens by daughterofshadows

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Fanwork Notes

Includes what it says on the tin. 3 characters and concepts in Tolkien that are easily read as aromantic based on textual evidence.

Today's prompts are not the prompts this is relevant to. I'm not even sure which prompts this best fits. But I got it done today and now it needs to get posted before the nerves kick in, so you're getting it whether it fits or not.

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Let's look at some aromantic headcanons for Meta week!

Major Characters:

Major Relationships:

Genre: Nonfiction/Meta

Challenges: Tolkien Meta Week

Rating: General

Warnings:

This fanwork belongs to the series

Tolkien through an Aromantic Lens
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 979
Posted on 8 December 2024 Updated on 10 March 2025

This fanwork is complete.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

This is less structured and more of a stream of consciousness, so if there is anything that isn't clear or is a bit tangled up, let me know!

And for context, because I forgot to explain it in the text:

amatonormative is the idea that a romantic relationship is a desire everyone experiences and strives for and that this relationship is the be all, end all of relationships, while heteronormative suggests that this romantic relationship should necessarily be between a man and woman.

Comments on Tolkien through an Aromantic Lens

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Lovely little piece!  I think these all make a lot of sense, Bilbo included.  There aren't many protagonists I can think of in the fantasy I've read who don't really have any hint of romantic chemistry with other characters, unless they're explicitly noted to be aro, but Bilbo has definitely always been top of that list for me, bless him.

Yes! It's so so rare, especially in media geared towards adult audiences (not in the NSFW sense, but in the "This is not written for children/teens" sense) to see main characters that lack romantic chemistry and do not end up in a relationship as part of the resolution of the story in some way shape or form (or alternatively have a previous/established romantic relationship).

Bilbo is quite unique in that sense

 

Thanks so much for writing and sharing this! As someone who's romantic yet sex-repulsed, and who intrinsically values platonic aspects of relationships far more than other aspects (and will probably never understand why kissing or having even casual sex outside of a relationship is conventionally a no-no but a deep lasting platonic friendship is nothing to get jealous about), I read almost the entire Silm as aromantic, including the love of Turin and Beleg.  Until I discovered fanfic, which promptly turned my personal Silm-world on its head! It's been absolutely fascinating rediscovering it from other perspectives with all the ship-permutations and there are some fabulous fics, yet I always find it really refreshing to read fic which celebrates platonic aspects. (I only picked up the terms aro and ace in the Tolkien fandom so don't know if I've interpreted them correctly.) This is all to say, I so appreciate you sharing your view, in part because it's helped me give terms to mine.

I'm so glad that my ramblings helped you! Really, like many queer labels, aro and ace may have the central concepts of lack of romantic or sexual attraction, but beyond that there is a multitude of sub-categories and labels that all fall somewhere under the wider umbrella, so as long as you don't lose those central points, there isn't really a way to misinterpret those terms 💚

The Silmarillion is definitely very easy to read as completely aromantic, especially because there is so little focus on any romantic plotlines (with the exception of maybe Beren & Lúthien). I can totally see why you did that! I'm much the same (and to be quite honest, I was too focused on the tragedy of Beleg's and Túrin's story to even think about whether there might be a potential romantic undercurrent involved there.

We'll have to continue to be jointly mystified by the rules and stipulations placed on romantic relationships compared to platonic ones, I think. I reckon society at large won't give us any answers any time soon. 

I've read fanworks featuring aromantic characters, but I don't often delve too deeply into the reasons behind relationships and love interests in canon. That's why I really appreciated this reading and perspective! It highlights Aredhel's aromanticism quite blatantly, and I don't know why I hadn't noticed it before. And how fascinating! You've opened up a whole new world for me! Now I'm thinking about all the very old elves who "canonically" never married, and while their situations might not be as clear-cut as Aredhel's, you've definitely given me something to think about. And Bilbo makes a lot of sense, too! I'm sorry to hear you've had bad experiences. For my part, I want to thank you for sharing this :D

I'm so happy that I was able to open up new perspectives! There really are so many more characters out there that can be seen as aromantic, and if you decide to explore some of them, I hope you have a lot of fun thinking about it!

Thank you so much for your kind words, as always this community is super welcoming and open about all of my headcanons, and the feedback I've gotten on this has really made my day

....an aromantic interpretation. It gives her story more depth. Bilbo as well being aromantic is food for thought. And how did I not notice this also applies to those dwarves who are "craft-wed"? Thank you for writing this interesting piece! 

It makes the "marriage" to Eol especially painful, although I am sure aromatic women throughout (real world) history have married and borne children... :( Still, this is yet another tragic wrinkle to her tale. Bilbo, though -- I love the thought of him living his best life in his independent way, just like the author Louisa May Alcott, who never married and wrote books instead. 

Yeahhhhh, this certainly adds to the layers of tragedy in Aredhel's life. And I will be talking more about the marriage thing in my presentation!

Also YESSSS Bilbo is out there living his best life, disregarding the social norms of the Shire and just becoming the local cryptid. Honestly, life goals XD