One of our motivations for featuring presentations of meta/scholarship by fans at Mereth Aderthad 2025 was the recognition that fans are often doing research and thinking about Tolkien in ways that Tolkien scholars are not. Shadow's presentation, "The Aromantic in Tolkien," is a perfect example of that.
In our ongoing series of interviews of Mereth Aderthad presenters and creators, Himring chatted with Shadow about their presentation and aromanticism in Tolkien. "I have seen quite a few works engaging with asexuality in Tolkien, both in fannish and scholarly ways," Shadow told Himring. "Aromanticism on the other hand? Not so much."
In their interview, Shadow discusses their personal and fannish journeys, first to becoming a Tolkien fan, and then to reading aromanticism in how Tolkien depicts many of his characters. "Regardless of whether Tolkien was aware or not, his legendarium is full of characters that can easily be reframed as aromantic," they told Himring, and their presentation will focus on just three of a much longer list: Aredhel, Bilbo, and Boromir.
You can read Himring's interview with Shadow here.
Finally, we will be offering our next session in the series "So You Want to Present at a Tolkien Conference?" on April 12 at 1:00PM Eastern Time on Zoom. (Find this in my timezone.) The second session will focus on how to put together the paper and presentation for a Tolkien conference, including various approaches to conference presentations, how to structure a presentation to maintain audience interest and not exceed time limits, and tools/strategies for using multimedia. If you'd like to receive an invite in your email and a reminder shortly before the event begins, RSVP here. (An RSVP is not an obligation to attend!) If you missed the first session, you can view Session 1 on writing the proposal here.
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Featured Article
Interview with Shadow by Himring
Aromanticism is a topic not often covered in Tolkien scholarship, but many Tolkien characters can be read as aromantic. In this interview, Himring talks with Shadow about their upcoming Mereth Aderthad presentation "The Aromantic in Tolkien."
Art Credit: Aredhel by Forestials (Tumblr)
New Fanworks
Explain This by Elrond's Library [Writing]
Melkor demands an account of Mairon’s failures.
Read more ...Message in a Bottle by StarSpray [Writing]
Over the course of his very long life he had found a handful of messages in bottles, but it had been a very long time. So when he found the glass bottle on his little stretch of pebbly beach, he picked it up with the intention of tossing it into his recycling. But it wasn’t, he found, just another beer bottle.
Read more ...Nerdanel/Nienna moodboard by Independence1776 [Artwork]
A Nerdanel/Nienna moodboard.
Read more ...Updated Fanworks
The Stars of Home by Idrils Scribe [Writing]
Elrohir has been found after his long abduction by the Black Númenóreans of Umbar. He comes home to Rivendell, but all is not well: the Elf-child that was taken is now a Man grown. War and darkness have left Elrohir deeply scarred, and even at home there is danger...
An alternate universe for the Under Strange Stars series, in which Elrohir goes with Glorfindel instead of running away from him after the events of Under Strange Stars. This story can be enjoyed without having read the original.
Many thanks to Grundy and Marchwriter for their excellent beta-reading and brainstorming.
Read more ...A Thousand Winds that Blow by StarSpray [Writing]
When uneasy dreams bring him back into Beleriand, Daeron finds a pair of twins who have lost their home, and an enemy who has lost himself. The Shadow's reach is growing ever longer, and if they are to survive, they must do it together.
Read more ...From That Rubble by StarSpray [Writing]
Fëanor shrugged, studying the contents of his wine glass. “Something must be done about that house. It will fall down eventually.”
“It does not follow that it must be you that tears it down single-handedly. Are you sure you do not want help?”
“It’s not as though I have much else to do. I need to build something new there,” he said after a few moments. “To do that, I must first clear away the old and broken things.”
Decades out of Mandos, too many things in Fëanor's life remain broken. He can't do anything except wait for his sons to come to him, but he can do something about the old and crumbling house where they once lived.
Read more ...Eä's Redemption by AaronAzrael [Writing]
This is my new poetical attempt to add my own interpretation to Tolkien's Cosmology as to Eru's Creation and the Valar's minds and behind-the-scene providence reasons and mechanisms.. I often review Eä as part of our own world, just in another dimension, this is why I have always seriously thought on the matter who the Ainur are, who Eru is, how he matches our own religious pantheon, and this has been conducted after serious research of many esoteric teachings of our own planet's heritage.
Read more ...Around the World and Web
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