Cultus Dispatches: Interview with Scedasticity of the "Silmarillion Headcanon Survey"
Cultus Dispatches is winding up a series of articles on canon, ending with a sub-series on fanon, or fan-generated theories. As the series has showed, fanworks creators put quite a lot of stock in the ideas of their fellow fans—more even than they do Tolkien scholars, filmmakers, or even Christopher Tolkien.
Yet fanons and headcanons—fanon's less sprawling cousin among fandom terms for fan-generated theories—can be contentious in fan spaces. While most don't rise to the level of Balrog-wings in terms of the heat they generate, debates over fanons and headcanons are common in fandom spaces. As we continue to understand the role of canon—and more specifically fan-generated theories and authority—in fanworks communities, Dawn spoke with Scedasticity, the creator of the Silmarillion Headcanon Survey, to get a sense of what insights her work with fan theories can give.
Posted on 21 October 2023 (updated 18 November 2023) by SWG Moderators
