A Tribute to the Library of Moria by Dawn Felagund, Himring, and Talullah

Posted on 30 July 2022 ; updated on 21 August 2022

Q&A with Library of Moria Admin Talullah

I know Commodore Marie started LoM ... do any of you have any idea what led her to start the archive?

I remember reading at the time I found the archive, a couple of years after its founding, that it was meant to create a safe haven for slash and slash only (femslash included). At the time, as you know, there were hot reactions to slash from many fans and even when there wasn't open flaming, slash writers and their work often were seen as lesser.

As I went through the LJ, what struck me was the amount of effort all of you put into keeping LoM running: not just archiving stories by hand (for which you have my mad respect) but promoting stories on the LJ and other groups, running challenges and events, signal-boosting others' events, and of course the day-to-day maintenance of a website (amplified by changes in tech over the site's 20-year history). This must have been thousands of hours of labor, and as an archivist myself, I know that that time comes from your own fandom time, to write, socialize, etc. What led you to want to make such an incredible commitment to the Tolkien fan community?

For my part, I found fandom through the Library of Moria, so there was a debt of gratitude, so to speak, but also, I was, and still am, so glad when we got messages from readers and writers showing us how important the archive was to them. I had more free time then and it was a pleasure to give it to the LoM.

How would you describe LoM as a site and a community? What was it like to participate there?

It was overwhelmingly positive. I was never much on the community's board—Azzie can speak about that with much more knowledge, but I was on LJ, ran challenges, etc., and there really was this sense that people loved the archive and community and the interaction that arose from there.

I started in fandom as well shortly after LoM opened, and I know the fandom could be very anti-slash at the time. What challenges did this create in the site's early history? Did this change as fandom became more openminded?

I hope so. The LoM was founded in 2002 and I came to fandom in 2004, so I wasn't there in the very first years. But yeah, I think that its existence certainly helped many people to find a place to express themselves as slash writers and find a sense of community and security, which in turn lead them to gradually be known and respected as writers and human beings on the wider fandom. For instance, I watched and experienced it myself, being befriended by people who weren't interested in slash but got to know me through friends in common who were more flexible in their views—they didn't become slash fans but they found a position where there was no need for flaming or wars and there was acceptance that there was room for everyone.  

Someone finds this article 20 years from now. What would you want them to know or remember about LoM?

That there was beauty and kindness in the welcoming way it received everyone and every tale. That it was warm and fun. That so many of us loved it.