New and Updated Nonfiction and Meta

An Elopement with Life is a 9-part essay collection that intertwines literary fan/fiction with the nonfiction essay form, exploring the idea of a Celebrían who stays in Middle Earth. The fictional narrative follows a year in the life of Celebrían who, across conversations with various 'lost women' of the legendarium, makes the deliberate choice to not-sail to Valinor. The essays engage with historiography, investigative environmental journalism, and critical queer/disability theory to unpack how mythic and literary narratives shape our understanding of loss, resilience, and reclamation. 

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

Notes and writings on Celebrimbor, following the 30-Day Character Study challenge prompts.

An essay on the subject of Celebrimbor, sin, and pity.

The text below is born of a conversation I had with a friend irl, in which she said she'd love to have an epic love story the like of Beren and Luthien (We're both fans of Tolkien so...)

Only the way I read it, the story of Beren and Luthien is not about love, but about pride: It's an epic lesson on the subject of pride and greed. 

On ongoing project to analyze who speaks in The Silmarillion and who is silent.

A brief discussion on Dwarves inspired by the the Lycurgus Cup, completed for Tolkien Meta Week 2024.

A summary of the events in J.R.R. Tolkien's text The Disaster of the Gladden Fields, written for the Third Age Sessions at Alliance of Arda.

Just developping here my thoughts on Finwë, king of the noldor of Tirion. 

Examining the relationship between Andreth and Finrod as shown in the Athrabeth.

Extracts from the Annals of Beleriand, including the Old English version, that deal with the capture and rescue of Maedhros.

With a very brief discussion.

What do the Silmarils and the Ring have in common? They are both the titular objects of their respective books around which the major plot turns, it is true. They are both made by powerful individuals, and are desired by many different people, and when they are lost and/or stolen their makers are desperate to retrieve them. Characters die for them, and kill for them. At this extremely surface level reading they do, indeed, seem very similar. But the deeper you look at each object the more glaring differences show themselves, until you realize that they do not parallel, but rather oppose each other.

This two-part paper discusses different elven responses to trauma exposure and forced displacement in Beleriand and Middle-earth (absolutely not exhaustive!). The first half of the paper focuses on Elrond's response to traumatic stress, while the second half compares the impact of Galadriel and Oropher's migration into formerly Silvan realms. First given at the Tolkien Society's Diversity & Tolkien seminar in 2021.

A letter to the author, by a writer of fan fiction.

That is, to Tolkien.

Written for a prompt of the "Dear Irmo" challenge.

A short exploration of my time in the Tolkien fandom: How did I get here, why did I stay, what did I learn.

For the Middle-earth Olympics Diving prompt.

An essay on the subject of where the hell Beleg Cúthalion gets to in the second half of The Children of Húrin.  He may be dead, but why is even his memory conspicuously absent?

Melkor cannot create a new race.  We know the discussions on Orcs - but what about Dragons?

Appropriate food choices for an ongoing observance of Bilbo's and Frodo's birthday.

How realistic are Thorondor and the eagles of Manwë? Could eagles of such size actually fly, much less carry people on their backs?

I beg your indulgence for this, my entry for the "Solve a problem" challenge. I realize the problem is all mine. Who IS the tallest? Or does it matter? What was Tolkien thinking?

some observations concerning orcs

A look at Tolkien's use of the word "fair" as a descriptor in The Silmarillion.

In this review of Dome Karukolski's biopic Tolkien, I consider the role of fictionalization, dangling threads, and of course the power of fellowship in art.

Quote-heavy essay on the Battle at the Sarn Athrad against the dwarves, editorial changes to rework the Death of Thingol to fit together with later drafts, and a possible way to reconcile drafts and conflicting canon.

It is high time that I explained a head-canon that became the bedrock upon which sits "Of Ingwë Ingweron". Building off some ideas about the Vanyar and my ideas and opinions about Cuiviénen, I landed on what I swear is not a crack theory.