Many of us have favorite characters from Tolkien who really stretch the term "minor character" to its extreme. These people of the footnotes and fragments are often little more than a name, but with a fully realized history behind (and sometimes in front) of them, it is possible to turn a few actions into a fully fledged character. (We also cannot neglect that this is Tolkien: names are rarely "little more," and the name itself is likely full of meaning!)

This month, we are excited to see a return of our occasional column Character of the Month with a new biography by Secondborn about Marhwini. Marhwini is a hallmark "minor character" for Tolkien: He doesn't appear in any of the major books, we know little about him—and yet he matters, both in terms of the story and its theme. Representing a proto-Rohirric alliance with Gondor, he is important to the histories of both peoples and helps establish the relationship between Gondor and Rohan that will feature so prominently in The Lord of the Rings. Secondborn encourages us to think of Marhwini's actions, though not successful militarily, not as a failure but in terms of what they tell us about the value of relations between peoples in the legendarium.

You can read Secondborn's biography of Marhwini here.

With Mereth Aderthad 2025 only two weeks away, we also have two interviews with fanworks creators to share. Idrils Scribe and Flora-lass are, respectively, the featured author and poet for the presentation "Cherished antagonist, despised protagonist - a defence of Elu Thingol" by Stella Getreuer-Kostrouch. Relatively new to fandom, Flora-lass was compelled by the legendarium that is "so real it hurts" to begin composing poetry about it, and her lyrical poems capture the musicality of Middle-earth. Her sonnet for Mereth Aderthad concerns Thingol and the Silmaril.

Idrils Scribe is the featured author for the same presentation, having written a story that centers on the Quenya ban. Idrils Scribes' stories tend to focus on characters, like the Doriathrim, who don't receive the same attention from fanworks creators as the Elves of Valinor do. Building on Stella's observations of the fandom's tendency to pigeonhole Thingol as a convenient villain, Idrils Scribe describes her motive in writing her story as, "I’m trying to peek inside his head, speculate what his intentions were, and hopefully provide an interesting perspective on one of the more controversial episodes."

You can read and listen to Anérea's interview with Flora-lass here, and you can read Shadow's interview with Idrils Scribe here.

And! In case you missed it, Mereth Aderthad is only two weeks away! We welcome registrations right through the day of the event, and even if you can only attend part of it, we'd love for you to join us if you can. You can register here, if you have not already!