New and Updated Nonfiction and Meta

The paper written for the presentation of the same name at Mereth Aderthad.

Abstract: In the Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings, three characters share the same stated or implied name etymology, “twilight + child,” in their secondary names: Lúthien, Arwen, and Maeglin. While the parallels between Lúthien and Arwen are outright stated in the text of The Lord of the Rings, Maeglin’s position as an antagonist sees him left out of the analysis of parallels between characters of the same name.

A short and very personal essay that is a mix of defense-of-genre-fiction and processing my relationship with my dad.  Not intended to tell anyone else how to feel about the fiction they consume, just trying to sort myself out.

Part fandom-commentary and part literary-critical reading, this essay considers the interpretive ease with which Elrond’s “kindness” is conflated with moral coherence, particularly when it comes to treating his affective attachments to the Fëanorians and/or Elwing and Eärendil as absolute ethical verdicts. Drawing on affect theory, trauma theory and adaptation analysis, I explore a way to read Elrond’s kindness as a cultivated practice which is not incapable of bias or harm. By reframing Elrond as a figure whose kindness arises from ambivalence rather than moral certitude, I try to offer a perspective that considers how 'virtue' is not an innate or fixed quality but one shaped by violence, grief, loss and the structural constraints of doctrine.

In the years before Arien bore the fruit of Laurelin aloft, just how did Yavanna's olvar grow?

An overview of the Sons of Fëanor and their role in Tolkien's Silmarillion writings

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