One of the most beloved themes of The Lord of the Rings is the ability of the humble and small to succeed where the powerful cannot and do not. It's unlikely that Tolkien had this notion in mind when he wrote so many minor characters and let them carry powerful ideas, but Vidumavi of the Northmen is one such character. Relegated to the appendices, Vidumavi is not only a catalyst in the histories of Rohan and Gondor but advances some of Tolkien's most important themes in the story of her love and marriage to the Gondorian prince Valacar.

In our newest article in Character of the Month, Secondborn discusses the life of Vidumavi and her importance to the legendarium. No one familiar with Character of the Month will be surprised to learn that, with just two mentions in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, Vidumavi carries a lot, thematically, on her shoulders. Secondborn explores ideas ranging from the division of various peoples throughout Tolkien's works based on bloodline—an idea with troubling echoes in our own world—to the conflicting meanings of fellowship to the role of characters like Vidumavi in illustrating a world from which the faerie-element is fading.

Furthermore, Vidumavi offers multiple inroads for creating fanworks. There is the love story. Secondborn writes of Vidumavi that "her marriage strikes me as one of the best and most genuine in Tolkien’s works, a truly moving example of love for love’s sake that endured harsh tests without failure." There is the hardship she experienced as one of the Northmen in a city that did not fully approve of her or her marriage, a trial that she bore with honor and courage, ultimately illustrating the fallacy of declaring one group of people superior to the other. Her story is entangled with the Kinstrife, with Castamir's coup, and with the eventual installment of the Stewards of Gondor. All this from a woman relegated to the appendices.

You can read Secondborn's biography of Vidumavi here.

Vidumavi's biography is a good time, too, to remind those of you who create fanworks that Third Age works are allowed on our site. This is a frequent point of confusion, but any works except those set during The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings are eligible for the SWG. The full FAQ on "Silmworks" is here.

And a final reminder of upcoming dates:

• Proposals for meta presentations for Mereth Aderthad are due on January 15, which is Wednesday. Check out our session on proposal-writing here and remember that this is an event that is specifically seeking contributions from fans! We want to feature your work at our event and are happy to support potential presenters in doing so! Reply to this email or contact us for help or with questions. We're happy to bounce ideas, look over drafts, or whatever you need. Find the call for proposals here.
• Next weekend, January 18 and 19, we are instadrabbling on our Discord server. Find more about how to participate here.