New and Updated Nonfiction and Meta

Can Kol Nidrei annul Maglor’s oath?

Tinfang is accounted one of the greatest minstrels, along with Maglor and Daeron.

In spite of this, the musical abilities of all three outside of sheer performance skills are described in less detail in The Silmarillion than other characters like Finrod. This essay attempts to gather the quotes that suggest Tinfang's degree of power and influence over objects and people in his original context.

In the 'real' Middle Ages women died in childbirth in droves. In Tolkien's world motherhood is even more deadly, but in a narrative sense rather than an obstetrical one.

 

A critical examination of Thingol as a leader in The Silmarillion. 

The Valar present an interesting case study of sexism in Tolkien's legendarium because they occupy a prototypical role, representing Iluvatar's intentions on how the universe should operate. My research shows that the female Valar not only appear far less frequently in The Silmarillion than the male Valar but are less involved, less assertive, and speak less.

A collection of quotes dealing with the fact that Tolkien explicitly set Middle-earth in our world from the very beginning of his Legendarium.

There are various recurring convictions concerning the matter of love, sex and marriage among the Eldar. We've probably all encountered them at some point. But a closer look at Tolkien's writings shows that matters aren't as simple as fanon tends to believe.

Tolkien's creation story the Ainulindalë includes many archetypal elements. This essay explores the deus faber or god-as-maker element and why creation from vocal song is vitally important to legendarium.

I am going to use this space for my contributions: meta, notes, links to stories, and to artwork. Rating will be teens or lower.

A quick and dirty compilation of Quenya names used in fan fiction and their meanings, for readers who are having problems with working out who is who in fic.

This is an micro-essay and a banner created as an extended introduction to a fic-rec list pulled together to celebrate Maglor’s Day on the Fëanorian Week celebration on Tumblr and initially inspired by the SWG Strength and Beauty March 2017 challenge.

"Real strength never impairs beauty or harmony,
but it often bestows it; and in everything imposingly beautiful,
strength has much to do with the magic."  ~Herman Melville, Moby Dick

SWG March 2017 Strength and Beauty Challenge
B2MeM 2017 (blue path/artwork/secondary colors/Tolkien quote)
Fëanorian Week Tumblr 2017 - Day 1- Maedhros - > Adjusting/Coping, Beauty

The death scenes of Fëanor and Fingolfin parallel each other closely in plot, beginning with the rash pursuit of single combat with Morgoth. Yet the manner in which the narrator of The Silmarillion, Pengolodh, employs language and symbolism leads to two very different conclusions that likely served to advance Pengolodh's political and personal agenda. Written for B2MeM 2017 for the prompt "Analyze a Chapter or Passage" on the nonfiction (orange) path.

Fantasy writers, including creators of Tolkien-based fanworks, have long struggled to depict the "otherness" of realms like Aman. In the past, the Tolkien fan fiction community showed a preference for an idealistic portrayal of Aman that left little room for imperfection. My work has long taken the opposite approach, and in this essay, I argue for the artistic need and canonical basis for grounding stories set in Aman in a more recognizable reality of human experience. This essay was written for Back to Middle-earth Month 2017 for the orange/nonfiction path with the prompt "Worldbuilding."

A character of few words may yet have great significance. An essay on Finarfin, the third son of Finwë and later King of the Noldor, and what he means to the story of the Silmarillion. 

I took the opportunity of the August 2012 Non-fiction challenge at the LotR Community Live Journal to write up some very personal thoughts of my own. I spend a part of every month, trying to write a character biography for the Silmarillion Writers Guild. Those are certainly not free of opinion, but are hopefully written in a more objective and overall more scholarly tone than this one. Anyway, for your kind perusal is this piece, halfway between a rant and a whine, but filled with not only with heart, but references to the texts.

The in-universe authorship of LACE makes the document inherently unreliable.

A collection of answers and essays originally written as guest contributions to Ask Middle-earth's Scribe Sunday project on tumblr. Will be updated bi-weekly. Discontinued.

The Silmarillion sometimes reads like something from the Bible. That was deliberate on Tolkien's part. This essay explores three biblical motifs — Creation, the Fall, and what can be called the Saving of the Remnant — and how Tolkien uses them to weave his own unique story of Middle-earth.

Color is a basic category of language.  Every culture has terminology denoting color, but they do not all 'see' the same colors. This is a look at the color terms that Tolkien translated into Quenya and Sindarin and what might be the sociolinguistic implications for these.

In July 2007, the Seven in '07 event honored the House of Fëanor and the inspiration it has given to the Tolkien fandom. Each character's page included a brief biography, archived here for ease of reference. Please see the Table of Contents for a listing of all available characters.