Hate Wins and Love Loses

it will never cease to delight me that in the trilogy, gimli is shown to be charming, with all the polish and grace of a trained diplomat—he trades wits with elrond and speaks so graciously to galadriel that she gives him a gift denied feanor; his extemporaneous description of the glittering caves is what convinces legolas to travel there with him after the war, he sings the song of durin so well that sam begs to learn it.

whereas legolas is this big cheerful lug of a hunter-tracker, incidentally a prince, only unwittingly beautiful and graceful—his speech is decidedly stiff and formal, even when he’s trying to be gentle, but then turns around and starts singing without realizing he’s forgotten half the song. He has strange moments of seriousness, when the ancientness of him shines through, but then—

I do wonder what their first conversations were, gimli dignified but a little chilly; legolas stiff even as he attempted humor, but a way forward nonetheless.

#I always forget how CHEERFUL legolas of the books is     #also he’s a little bit of an asshole? like “farewell! I go to find the sun” when everybody else is stuck in snow up to their shoulders     #yr being a jerk legolas     #stop being a jerk legolas  

I totally forgot the most important part which is that they are ALSO both plagued by sinister old men who are into them for all the wrong reasons and are trying to manipulate their respective countries for their own suspect ends (Gandalf and Grima)

Now that the presentations from the Tolkien Society’s seminar are up I can share one of my favourite slides from Cordeliah Logsdon’s presentation >:3

The left are all quotes about Eowyn, the right are quotes about Denethor. Their relevance is even more pertinent when you hear the passages read aloud and in full on the video. 

Remembered something I needed to add to this but Aragorn’s final confrontation with Eowyn and Gandalf’s final confrontation with Denethor are LITERALLY the same scene, same character motives, same despair and with the same defiant end. 

Versus!

DO YOU ALL SEE HOW IT’S LIKE... TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN? Eowyn, whom has never had control of her life or been able to fight back against the ever growing despair haunting all of them, caged by duty, just wants to spend her last moments in angry ferocious defiance and battle. MEANWHILE DENETHOR, who has been caged by duty into always struggling and battling, having all the responsibility that comes with his position but none of the freedom, forced to ‘spend even his sons’ in Gondor’s defense, wants to spend his last moments with his son and for them both to be safe from this perpetual war and pain forevermore, DO YOU SEE HOW IT’S LIKE THIS GENDER ROLE REVERSAL THING DO YOU SEE?? With Gandalf and Aragorn serving as mouthpiece for the paternalistic society they are both rebelling against? I go insane about it. Did you know that in draft versions of lotr, Eowyn died? I hate this book so much

Actually it occurs to me now, as it has many times when reading Sam’s specific point of view in Mordor, that this is one of the most revelatory passages in regards to the point of many of the other narratives within LotR. And honestly I say this as both praise and scorn. Because yes, this is a beautiful passage, and it’s language inspires almost unheeding of it’s specific meaning. The high beauty and passing shadow means as many things as the number of people that read of them. 

But I’m afraid I will once again make this about christian religion AND Denethor AND Boromir so sorry. (not really) 

Here, defiance is framed as selfish. When Sam is exhausted at the top of the tower of Cirith Ungol, hopelessly lost, surrounded by death and darkness, he sings just for the sake of adding something beautiful into that terrible place. He is defying the darkness around him. But, as this passage tells us, this is apparently not an un-complicatedly good or even neutral act. Instead, Sam should not have even worried for the darkness to begin with. His fate, and the fate of the things he loves, should not have troubled him, because in the face of the untouchable light and high beauty, none of it really matters apparently. 

Obviously in this universe high and beautiful things and celestial lights are holy, they are divine, so the meaning is clear; ‘No matter what happens to you, so long as Eru is on his throne, nothing is wrong with the world and you should not even begrudge the pain and suffering levied upon you and your loved ones, it will all turn out right in the end.’

This is a very Christian sentiment and it spotlights the specific ‘sin’ Denethor AND Boromir are committing within the morality of the books. Because Denethor and Boromir are concerned with the things they love and their suffering. Boromir himself is apathetic about the high beauty and Eru’s rightness and elves and the divine blood he and Aragorn carry. His whole motive is to protect his people, he does not care about whether the actions he takes in their defense could be considered a challenge or an affront to Eru (as the Ring is an instrument by which Sauron seeks to challenge Eru’s divine right to the throne of the world, and therefore using it is inherently blasphemous.) To Boromir, if he is working towards the safety of his city, his people, his family, then he is content that he is serving as he should be. Boromir is, in essentials, the agnostic of this story.

Denethor, on the other hand, DOES have a relationship with this high beauty, albeit a very complex one. He has loved the divine light, he is a member of the faithful, he has kept to their ways and loved as they have loved his whole life.  He is even much more circumspect about using the Ring as well, favouring just keeping it safe and out of Saurons hands. He wants to be good. And that has destroyed him. It has taken all things he has ever loved from him, this eternal defence and embattlement against The One Who Would Be God to champion Eru. Boromir literally died on a quest because of a divinely ordained dream, his son! And here is Gandalf, the closest thing to an angel middle-earth has, a divine messenger, here to tell him what else he has to sacrifice and how he mustn’t begrudge Boromir’s loss anyway. 

Denethor is ultimately defiant against the darkness, he wants to protect his people, he oversees everything from the large to the small, he barely sleeps, he has dauntless will and resolve to protect Gondor and it is because of him that Gondor survives at all. But to the narrative, that is still a selfish motive. In the end the only thing he can think of to save himself and the son he loves from more suffering is to die. But suicide is a sin, Denethor ‘does not have the authority to order the hour of his own death’ as Gandalf says. It is another blasphemous act, because Denethor has LOST faith, one might say he has lost the perspective of the high beauty and his own insignificance. Denethor in fact now believes that the lives and peace of his sons ARE more important to him than God. So Denethor represents a man who, through the trials of the world, LOSES faith. 

And then there is Faramir, THE faithful one. He is the one his family must be compared too, caring for his people to an extent, but firmly reinforcing the fact that, ‘I would not take this thing, if it lay by the highway. Not were Minas Tirith falling in ruin and I alone could save her, so, using the weapon of the Dark Lord for her good and my glory.’ A sentiment he reinforces when Denethor challenges him about it, ‘Ever your desire is to appear lordly and generous as a king of old, gracious, gentle. That may well befit one of high race, if he sits in power and peace. But in desperate hours gentleness may be repaid with death.’ [-] ‘But not with your death only, Lord Faramir: with the death also of your father, and of all your people, whom it is your part to protect now that Boromir is gone.’ And Faramir says ‘so be it’, Faramir loves God more than he loves his people or his family, he is willing to let all of them suffer and die in order to keep faith with Him, and the story rewards him for it with the life and peace his brother and father were never allowed.

And technically both Denethor and Boromir as apostates are treated quite gently and sympathetically by the narrative in comparison to much christian dogma. Boromir and Denethor are still allowed their nobility and valour and good intentions, but in the end they are pitiable figures to the wider morality of the tale. They have loved people too much and God too little and through it have lost that perspective that the faithful believe is necessary to pass through the world properly. Neither of them could lie down and let ‘for a moment, their own fate, and even their loved one’s, cease to trouble them’. 

And that! Is literally why they’re my favourite characters, I too love people more than God, even in the face of a fathomless eternity. If I were given the choice to save people from terrible suffering in their short lives at the cost of defying God’s right to the throne of the world, I would also take it. Mutable things that do not last are just as divinely important as eternity. I will not wait till I’m dead to give my full love to things and neither did Denethor or Boromir!!!

Categorically the most galling part of this universal perception that Boromir is a 'poor out-of-his-depth himbo whose completely ignorant of politics' is how it is blindingly canonically apparent that he put massive effort into being a political entity, to the point that his political opinions follow him even into the Council of Elrond.

Without the Council of Elrond, one could interpret his narrative positioning as a more 'Middle Man' and less 'high' as something forced upon him, a (narratively framed) negative aspect of his character that Faramir is critisising and lamenting as just 'part of his nature'. He is being associated with the Rohirrim and other 'lesser' men because he is also a 'lesser' man inspite of his heritage, due to his 'flawed' and 'weak-willed' personality.

Although that is still a bit of a stilted and awkward interpretation in my opinion, Eomer explicitely differentiates Boromir's treatment and manner around the Rohirrim from other men of Gondor he has known. He is 'less grim' etc etc, Eomer felt more at ease in his company, which implies to me more that Boromir interacted with the Rohirrim as equals, unlike most of this kin. Which seems more likely to be an active effort on his part.

But interpretations based off of that are entirely unnecessary, because the Council of Elrond exists! Where Boromir, when confronted with Aragorn's mistrust of the Rohirrim and Gwaihir's accusation that they pay a tribute of horses to Sauron, immediately and comfortably comes to their staunch defense. 'It is a lie that comes from the Enemy' he declares, literally pointing out propeganda that all these elves and dunadain are primed to believe given their own investment in the racial divide between them and these 'middle men'. A primer that also belongs to Boromir, whose place amongst the 'high men' is a right bestowed on him from birth, yet one he is actively discarding here in favour of defending the Rohir perspective.

And not only that! He even goes so far as to place the rohirrim's ethnic and cultural heritage as a reason for their trustworthiness, inspite of the fact that they cannot claim any relation to any so called 'blessed' lineage. They come from 'the free days of old', a statement that is similar to one of Faramir's but that, tellingly, Faramir uses as a method of infantilising the rohirrim 'they remind us of the youth of Men'.

These are all inherently and radically political statements for the heir of the Stewardship, the man next in line to be chieftain of the southern dunadain, to declare, especially when acting as emissary as he is now.

So now, all those moments when Boromir is linked directly with middle men, when his right to his 'high' heritage is questioned, when he is critisised with the same racially charged language as the rohirrim are (too warlike, "we are become Middle Men, of the Twilight, but with memory of other things" [-] "So even was my brother, Boromir") - all of that is now on purpose, on Boromir's part. He is the one distancing himself from the title of 'high' and questioning it's validity in the process, something Faramir clearly disapproved of and was a part of the breakdown in his respect for him. (Understandable, considering Faramir's equal and opposite effort to reclaim the title of 'high' for himself and his people.) Boromir is, essentially, engaging in some kind of racial-hierarchy criticism/abolishionism and activism.

That is not to say that his political opinions all entirely pass muster, he does still engage in racist rhetoric at least once, calling Gondor's eastern enemies 'the wild folk of the east'. But within the context of his own country and it's ethnic diversity, his position is maverick in comparison to pretty much everyone else.

And before anyone says it, let me head off comments like 'Boromir was just being himself, he didn't even know it was political he was just that stupid but I love him for it' No. Boromir's reputation in Gondor was complex and multifacetted but a great many people loved and supported him, clearly we see that there was a divide in political opinion between the two brother's stances on war and society. What you are essentially saying here is that Faramir is such a dull-witted statesman that he was incapable of swaying opinion his way against someone who didn't even know he was a part of the discussion, who wasnt even involved in the debates, against a high society that based their cultural identity on being descended from racially superior Numenoreans. The historical perspective is heavily weighted in Faramir's favour.

The much more likely state of affairs is that Boromir and Faramir have both been working towards their own social change and against each other, causing an opinion divide within the country. And apparently Boromir has not been losing that fight, even if he hasn't been definitively winning it either. Some people call him reckless where Faramir is measured, others say Faramir is not bold enough, Denethor himself claims Faramir is placing his desire for nobility and 'high-ness' over the safety of himself and his people. Culturally Gondor is going in for more pursuits of war-sports (wrestling perhaps) and the adulation of the soldiers that defend them, above the men of lore if Faramir is to be believed.

Society is changing around this debate and Boromir is actively, purposefully and directly involved in that debate! Hells bells, he even describes a part of how he works in the political sphere to Frodo! 'Where there are so many, all speech becomes a debate without end. But two together may perhaps find wisdom.' Boromir is!!! A politician!! On purpose!!

The neutral political position of 'Heir to the Stewardship' given to him by his birth is so ludicrously weighted towards faithful that the effort it must have taken to push the needle and associate with the middle men as such a divisive yet loved figure is MASSIVE. Boromir believed the Rohirrim and middle men of Gondor were his social equals and counted them amongst his people and that was a stance he upheld in PARLIMENT! Stop!! Acting like he's just a blockheaded soldier who cares about nothing else- he cares!! He cares a lot!! Professionally in fact!!

Sat in the shower for a while thinking about how Eowyn's story ended, how after all that time of trying to prove herself courageous and worthy to fight, she lays down her sword and retires to a garden, how someone could misconstrue that as her returning to her 'place' as a woman and giving up all she has fought to achieve, but it's not. How it's truly about how courage can be shown as softness, and the bravery that is to continue living after the fight.

Alright, what I’d like to acknowledge is that this is a completely reasonable interpretation of Eowyn’s arc. If this is the narrative you enjoy out of her story then take it! And indeed, as a wider rule for any story, readers should take whatever they desire out of it, it’s a reader’s right.

But I am also frustrated by this persistant narrative that anyone who percieves Eowyn’s marriage as a return to her status quo have an unenlightened and simplistic misunderstanding of the themes or something. This weird sense of superiority that comes through of like ‘oh these silly people who just don’t understand what the great Professor Tolkien meant! You’re all just haters who want to call him sexist’ is incredibly common amongst the Tolkien-apologetics academia that also cry ‘victorian mindset!’ for everytime some ‘slant-eyed swarthy’ man is called inherently untrustworthy in the books. I don’t know why Tumblr is so eager to shut down any discussion of the issues within Lord of the Rings, but here’s my singular defense of the ‘Eowyn is rechained’ perspective.

Firstly, Eowyn is not riding to war to prove herself. She wants glory, yes, but it is not for a lack of self-worth or some unmoored desire at recognition. She is desperate for an escape, she has been trapped in a house as the servant of her King-uncle whom barely sees her, whose trusted advisor harasses her with impunity, for five years now. She has watched her brother and cousin freely ride away from their gradually worsening political and personal situations, whilst she is caged by her 'duty' and forced to sit and watch and wait for it all to crumble down around her, with no agency or control whatsoever. And now, with the end of the world looming, she wants to at least control how she dies. Merry's perspective of Eowyn-as-Dernhelm is not of some young person fired with the thrill of battle or lust for blood and glory;

A young man, Merry thought as he returned the glance, less in height and girth than most. He caught the glint of clear grey eyes; and then he shivered, for it came suddenly to him that it was the face of one without hope who goes in search of death.

Because that is all the control fate (and the men in her life) have left to Eowyn, she wishes to 'spend her life as she wills' as she has 'heard too often of duty'. This is a control Aragorn tries to deny her, refusing her even as she weeps brokenly and begs him to allow her to ride with him to war, allow her to reclaim some agency in her life before it ends. And when he refuses her she realises no one will help her but herself. As she says; All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and honour, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more. But I am of the House of Eorl and not a serving-woman. I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death.

Like, Eowyn herself associates her sense of imprisonment with being a woman and the misogynistic demands of the men around her. She associates the demands men have on her, as a woman, and her 'place in the house' directly with her own bitterness and despair and meaninglessness. 'You have leave to be burned with the house, for the men will need it no more'.

But we, the readers, are not drawn directly to sympathise with these things, we are supposed to pity her, just as Aragorn does. Indeed, Aragorn designates himself as proper mouthpiece for Eowyn's 'troubles', taking it upon himself in the houses of healing to 'explain' Eowyn to her brother before she is even conscious. And then Faramir commands Eowyn to 'not scorn Aragorn's pity', since Aragorn is so gentled hearted to have bestowed it upon her. And Eowyn is suddenly cured of her sorrow, of her wish for control, of her striving for anything beyond 'the house' that she had previously raged against.

Faramir tells her not to scorn pity, that she is beautiful and that he loves her and she says; the Shadow has departed! I will be a shield-maiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy only in the songs of slaying. I will be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren.

Great! Love that for her! What about every single other man in the books who rode to war for glory? Where was Eomer's apparently so necessary arc of realising he should lay down down his sword, retire to a garden and continue living after the fight? Aragorns? Gimli's? Legolas'? Angbor's? Ingold's? Theoden's? All of these men continue going to war after the end of the books. Indeed, the only man in the books who actively rejects battle and chooses the 'house' is Denethor; 'Nay, I will not come down,’ he said. ‘I must stay beside my son. He might still speak before the end'. But according to Gandalf that is also the wrong choice, the only difference between him and Eowyn being; Gender.

Not to mention the fact that both Eowyn and Faramir percieve their engagement as Faramir 'taming' Eowyn; 'would you have your proud folk say of you: ‘‘There goes a lord who tamed a wild shieldmaiden of the North'".

And that isn't even touching on the fact that both Faramir and Aragorn diagnose Eowyn's reason for wanting to die as being, quite literally, because Aragorn rejected her; You desired to have the love of the Lord Aragorn. [-] But when he gave you only understanding and pity, then you desired to have nothing, unless a brave death in battle.

Again, drawing out poignant meaning for yourself from Eowyn's story around forgoing violence and finding peace after war is not wrong, of course. But you can do that without dismissing all feminist critique of her story as 'misconstruing' when quite blatantly Eowyn does return to her place, as the dominant societal demands of her gender decree. She marries her social equal, after giving up both the ambition to be a warrior as well as the ambition to be a Queen, and keeps his house (not hers, and far from her homeland) and bears his children and no deeds are recorded for her thereafter. The fact that the book tells us she finds peace, happiness and meaning in that is not a subversion or exoneration of the misogyny within the narrative, but part of it. After all, if only women would 'know their place' they would all be much happier!

@gloomweavers there's definitely a lineage of thought there, although I would not necessarily say it was a 'refusal' of Eru, that is a bit too active, it is more like... Boromir simply did not look for him any longer, from a pretty early age, and the longer he lived the more that attitude felt like the only logical option.

But Finduilas' death was very tied up in Boromir's emotions and his relationships with the rest of his family, it was his fault, his father's fault, Mordor's fault, her own fault, no one's fault but fate, different people blamed it on so many things and each possibility hurt in an entirely new but incredibly mundane way. There simply was not space to think about it in cosmological terms. Indeed initially he tried to be more religious, as a child who believed he'd killed his mother, he needed to understand how he could make amends and what part of him was so inherrently vile to have done such a thing.

But as that extreme settled down, and as he came into contact with other people who were apparently inherrently lesser in the eyes of the West, the fact that he understood what that felt like (especially as he confronted his sexuality) was what really 'radicalised' him one might say. In the end his theological positions are informed mostly by his class and racial politics, but he was sympathetic to those so called 'lesser' people precisely because he had felt 'lesser' himself, and in doing so had somewhat shattered the illusion of inherrent racial superiority or morality. Whether he deserved it was neither here nor there, the people he met definitely did not deserve to feel as he had felt as a child.

In a BoromirLives fanfic, Faramir must be forced to confront this line of his in particular; Whether he erred or no, of this I am sure: he died well, achieving some good thing. His face was more beautiful even than in life. It's vital to me that this is addressed. Because in Tolkien beauty is holy, they are intertwined inextricably, the holy will be beautiful.

Boromir did not live a beautiful holy life according to most, his life is not spoken of with uncomplicated worth by any but Denethor, Eomer, Theoden and Pippin (all either 'simple' or outwardly rebellious against god). But he did die a beautiful holy death, it is what most people praise him for and in Faramir's mystical dream where he sees Boromir's dead body floating down the river, this is his reaction. Boromir's corpse was more beautiful than his living body, because in death he was 'redeemed' and served his purpose in the great holy plan. He 'died well'.

This is horrifying right? It horrifies me when I read it. And I think it so concisely reveals how Faramir and many others viewed Boromir. I am essentially here to argue that this is all about piety, once again, yes I'm a one track record.

Gandalf, when hearing of Boromir's death from Aragorn, declares; It was a sore trial for such a man: a warrior, and a lord of men. Galadriel told me that he was in peril. But he escaped in the end. I am glad. It was not in vain that the young hobbits came with us, if only for Boromir’s sake.

Now, what is Gandalf saying here? Boromir did not escape, he died. Does he mean he escaped corruption? Well, no, since apparently this 'escape' had something to do with Merry and Pippin and Boromir shook off the pull of the Ring long before he was sent to find them. What role did Merry and Pippin play in this 'escape'? Well, Boromir died for them, he had too, there was no other way out of that ambush. So by process of elimination the only thing the 'young hobbits' did that was 'for Boromir's sake' was... to be there so he could die for them, right?

And remember, his death did not actually save them or really help in any way, the hobbits are still taken and the Uruk-hai's downfall has nothing to do with Boromir. In fact Aragorn squandered any time Boromir might have given him to catch up to the Uruk-hai by spending hours on his funeral. So, the death alone is what is being called 'good' here, what is beautiful. Boromir dies and that is beautiful and something to be glad for, according to Gandalf and Faramir.

But why do they think this? Faramir has his 'alas for Boromir, whom I too loved' and Gandalf laments 'poor Boromir', so they have at least some pity for him. What was 'good' to them about Boromir dying? Well we all know this one don't we, it's the accepted narrative of it all, Boromir 'redeemed' himself with this deed. He tried to take the Ring, and for this crime he needed redemption that he gained through vainly giving up his life to try and save Merry and Pippin.

But, in fact, Boromir himself has a slightly different way of phrasing it. Boromir says, of his own death; ‘I tried to take the Ring from Frodo,’ [-] ‘I am sorry. I have paid.’

He paid for it. To Boromir, in this cosmic exchange, he chose wrongly and paid for the offence with his death. This wasn't redemption, it was spiritual commerce, crime and punishment. Which is a perspective that once again demonstrates Boromir's enduring lack of 'faith' or spirituality. The powers of the west and Eru may exist, but they exist to him as forces of nature, some fact of the world we all must just live with, not something that fills him with hope or brings him nobility or meaning or a 'higher purpose'. Boromir does not want to be closer to divinity, he does not want to be beautiful or noble, he wants his people to be safe.

But of course, this is entirely opposite to Faramir's perspective, and if not downright heretical then at least unfaithful. So, when alive, Boromir cannot achieve 'beauty' in Faramir's mind, because he is unfaithful. It is only when he is dead, when 'fate' draws him into this spiritually good 'end' that sees him give up his life for a holy quest, when Boromir's life is no longer defined by him but by his death, that he can be beautiful.

And bringing this all the way back around, there are two ways you could do this in a boromirlives fic. Either, Boromir comes back but he does not look like he did in Faramir's dream. He did not pay, he is still alive to define who he is and Faramir finds himself slowly drawn into this terrible psychological horror as he realises he misses his brother's death more than he missed his actual brother.

Or Faramir needs to be confronted with a brother who looks dead to him. Boromir has come back and to Faramir's eyes he looks exactly as he did in the dream, but now this corpse moves and speaks and can no longer be confined to one perfect conceptual moment. And this also horrifies him. It is for authors to decide if this is just an aspect of Faramir's perspective, or if Boromir actually 'came back wrong' as it were, he did pay but somehow he came back anyway.

Got real exercised about Peter Jackson’s defanged Eowyn and needed to draw my girl going slowly out of her mind as Aragorn’s apathy makes her more and more desperate until she finally breaks free of the chains that bind her and decides that if she is to die, she would choose how.

This part is always genuinely hard for me to read. Sure we’re meant to sympathize with Eowyn but we’re also clearly meant to like and respect Aragorn throughout, and he’s so disgustingly apathetic toward her in this scene that I want to descend into the pages and beat him up.

Was that really what Tolkien was going for here? Sure he’s sexist in a lot of ways in his books but this scene reads very differently to me- it’s a lot more callous and cruel, where his sexism usually is more passive.

Does Tolkien want us to agree with Aragorn’s behavior here? If he doesn’t, and we’re supposed to think he’s being an ass after all, then the book doesn’t handle it well. Tolkien never makes a point to tell us that Aragorn learns a lesson from treating Eowyn this badly or that he changes his opinion about the societal role women should and shouldn’t play.

I almost feel like Tolkien wrote Aragorn to be deliberately emotionless here because he was worried about implying romantic feelings for Eowyn if Aragorn showed even an ounce of empathy for her. Which I also do not like.

Anyway. I have some questions for old man jirt

The letter he sends to Michael in 1941 full of advice about relationships with women is generally the source I go too whenever I have these questions. Although, as I’ve always said, we don’t really need to worry about what Tolkien’s thinking anymore in regards to what his books ‘mean’, they should speak for themselves. But either way, we still might as well hear what he has to say about his own beliefs, like;

[-]

[-]

The letter itself is actually pretty interesting and I’ve cut out only the clearest misogyny sections but it goes into his opinions in far more detail. I kind of enjoy reading it, it gives this nuanced examination of precisely how at least A man of the time and with such misogynistic views percieves the women around him and his relationship with them without any like… hold back or sense of trying to defend himself. So it comes across with a lot more candour and so within that a kind of less clinical more understandable tone, like I can get how a human man might believe these things.

But with that being said, I don’t think there’s really a mystery to solve here right? Aragorn tells everyone including the reader what Eowyn’s deal was over her sickbed in Minas Tirith. We are actually meant to percieve Eowyn as lying when she explains her desires and motives in this scene, her true secret object was always to follow Aragorn (whom she fancies herself in love with), and in being rebuffed by him she is sent into literal suicidal despair. Like I am fairly convinced that was Tolkien’s entire intent. I ignore it with prejudice, I will never ever be convinced that is what this Eowyn’s story is about, but I still think that’s what Tolkien believed he wrote. Even Faramir declares this to be the case by the end, to Eowyn’s face, during their so called love confesssion, and she does not correct him. It’s truly grim honestly, Eowyn should get a divorce and change her pronouns.

This line always cracks me up; ‘For I also am a steward. Did you not know?’ And with that [Gandalf] turned and strode from the hall with Pippin running at his side.

The way he says this is such a Gandalf cunty bitch moment and I see it quoted out of context all the time (very similar to Faramir's 'I love not the sword' schpiel), as if he hasn't just told Denethor that yes, he's right, he doesn't care about Gondor and if it's destroyed it's really not his problem since he's 'Steward of the whole world' or whatever.

"And for my part, I shall not wholly fail of my task, though Gondor should perish, if anything passes through this night that can still grow fair or bear fruit and flower again in days to come."

Struts out as if that's a micdrop moment!!

"If all civilisations and their peoples are destroyed but a few plants remain then thats still a win for me" Gandalf!!! this is not the slay statement you think it is!!! You're setting your divine quest's success bar way too low I think!!! That is in fact precisely what Denethor was worried about!!!!!

My Statement on Tolkien 2019

[ French translation and German translation availible. ]

It has been incredibly difficult for me to speak on my experiences regarding my experiences of hostility and othering in spaces that I loved and still hold dear to my heart, and for that reason I have been silent. That is until now. 

I have decided that now is the right time for me to come forward with my experience and statement regarding my negative experience as a person of colour engaging in Tolkien spaces. 

I want people involved in the wider Tolkien community to reflect on their roles in the specific spaces they inhabit, and how you can foster a better environment for marginalised groups to interact and engage with those spaces in a safe and inclusive manner. 

Take your time to listen and put effort into listening to fans of colour when they are speaking about their lived experiences and their grievances especially when they are speaking about a topic as personal as racism. Being critical of a work you love and the media surrounding it is not easy thing, but we need to recognise that these criticisms are valid and deserve to be taken seriously when it affects a collective of people across different backgrounds. 

I want to preface this by stating that I am speaking only for myself and my own lived experience as a vocal young non-black POC in a predominantly white space. I acknowledge that my experience is by no means universal or indicative of all POC in Tolkien fandom spaces. 

I also understand that real life interactions differ widely from interactions on online fandom spaces, but there are disturbing similarities across both online and real life spaces with specific regard to the environment and treatment of vocal POC in both. 

The tragedy is many people do not realise their impact not only on the individuals involved, but on the wider attitude towards POC voices in fandom when the topic of racism is discussed. We need to build safe environments where critical discussions of diversity and race from the people most affected by them are taken to heart, not invalidated or spoken over as targets of microaggressions. 

To give a bit of context, Tolkien 2019 was an in person conference organised by the Tolkien Society (which I was a member of at the time). The official website for Tolkien 2019 has been taken down but the Tolkien Society has a nice summary written in August 2018 breaking down the event here. 

I was approached by the Education Secretary at the time about my possible involvement in a panel discussing the history and future of the Tolkien Society which I elaborate on further in my statement. It was the first time I had felt that I had a platform where I could freely express my voice as a diverse reader and consumer of Tolkien media who held diversity in Tolkien as a core value in the wider Tolkien brand. 

I felt that as the only non-white member on the panel I had an obligation to speak out on the topic of diversity when it was raised. I tried to speak briefly about some of the points and discourses I had heard on portrayals of diversity in Tolkien media with as much nuance as I could manage at the time. In response to some points I had made I was met with vocal disapproval by some audience members and visible signs of disapproval and hostile body language from others. 

This was made even more jarring when later during the course of the event when two white creators hinted at vague notions of diversity were met with a far greater degree of approval. The former instance was during the context of a panel regarding the upcoming LOTR on Prime series, and the latter was during a talk presented by the chair of the Tolkien Society.

I felt intimidated and reluctant to involve myself any further in the Tolkien fandom, especially in real life spaces as my experience at Tolkien 2019 had only solidified and reaffirmed my fears and unease I had engaging in a predominantly white fandom with few visible POC members and creators who tackle topics of diversity and racism in both the community and source texts.

Following this event I was approached by an affiliate of one of the attendees who very kindly took the time to listen to me and suggested that I should write a statement in response to my experience. To my knowledge, my statement has not been shared or published on any platform yet and this will be the first time I have ever spoken about it publicly. 

Since then some of my thoughts and opinions on certain aspects of Tolkien fandom and meta have shifted or evolved which I will hopefully expand on in the future, but I wanted to share my initial unchanged statement I wrote reflecting my immediate reaction to my experience. 

I want to be seen as a Tolkien creative and critical thinker above anything else, but I cannot move forward with my work without speaking about my lived experience in a space which has been consistently hostile to me and so many others across different Tolkien spaces for so many years starting with my account of this one experience.

I hope my statement finds itself in good hands and I will always be willing to engage with others about my experiences so long as you engage with me in good faith. 

The statement I wrote on 25/09/2019 is as follows:

Keep reading

One of the funny things about LotR is that almost every people in it professes to disbelieve in the supernatural, but because they live in a fantasy world their baseline for "natural" is so jacked up. The Rohirrim are like, yeah, there's a wizard in this tower and ancient tradition that we have no reason to doubt says this mountain is full of ghosts, but walking trees? Short people? I don't think so. Galadriel is like, "Listen I heard you describe what I do as magic and look I just gotta clear some things up, okay." Gondorians are like, yeah, of course the Enemy has spectres of men who lived long ago and never died and can now fly above us and incapacitate us with just their voices. This is just a fact of life, okay? But shut up about this magic weed that makes comatose people better. That's an old wives' tale. Royalty? Press X to doubt.

The people group in Tolkien's work who seem most receptive to magic and least restricted by their own notions of what it can do actually seem to be the hobbits. And they use it to avoid meeting people they don't want to talk to

the undoing of Boromir

It always gets me that the name "Gandalf" literally just means "Wand-Elf" or "Stick-Elf". I'm imagining old Gondorians just being like:

Librarian: I saw that weird guy at the library again today.

Guard 1: What weird guy?

Librarian: The old guy with the beard? Kinda elfy-looking, apart from the beard?

Guard 1: Oh, with the big-ass stick?

Librarian: Yeah, looked like he was carrying an entire tree branch.

Guard 2: Yeah, that's the Stick Elf.

Guard 1: Hell yeah, I fuckin' love the Stick Elf.

Librarian: The "Stick Elf"?

Guard 2: He comes by every few years, usually after some weird book or other.

Librarian: Oh. Yeah, he wanted a treatise on goblin breeding habits.

Guard 2: Like, how they have sex? We have books on that?

Librarian: Yeah, turns out we do. I was as surprised as you are.

Guard 1: What'd the Stick Elf need a fuckin' goblin-fuckin' book for?

Librarian: I didn't ask. So you just call him "Stick Elf"?

Guard 2: I mean, he looks kinda elfy and he always has that stick, so, like, yeah.

Guard 1: Dude also has some fuckin' dope pipeweed.

Guard 2: Oh yeah, his pipeweed is awesome.

Librarian: How long has he been coming here?

Guard 2: Oh, for decades. He's, like, super old.

Guard 1: More like fuckin' centuries. Dude's old as balls.

Guard 2: Wait, really?

Guard 1: Yeah, my gran-gran used to talk about him. She loved his pipeweed too.

Librarian: So he's… an immortal pipeweed dealer?

Guard 2: I think he's just, like, a connoisseur. He doesn't sell it or anything. He just always has some really top-notch pipeweed on him.

Archivist: Oh, are we talking about Stick Elf?

Guard 1: Hell yeah we are!

Librarian: You know about the Stick Elf, too?

Archivist: Oh, totally. Stick-Elf's a super chill dude. Gave me some awesome pipeweed when I was maybe 12, and tee-bee-aitch I think I'm still a little buzzed from it.

Guard 1: What'd I tell ya, fuckin' dope pipeweed!

Archivist: Also he's really old.

Guard 1: Old as balls.

Librarian: Yeah, so Éodan and Jenniforomir were telling me.

Archivist: My grandpa used to tell me stories - he said one time he saw Stick Elf enter a smoke-ring contest.

Guard 1: Ooh, I'll bet he kicked fuckin' ass.

Archivist: Apparently the guy made an entire warship out of smoke and it flew around shooting down the other rings.

Librarian: And how much of this "fuckin' dope" pipeweed had your grandfather had by this point?

Guard 1: No no, that's totally plausible. Dude's got weird elf powers and shit for sure.

Archivist: He brought fireworks for the king's birthday one year, too.

Guard 1: Oh fuck, I forgot about those! Fuckin' incredible fireworks! Dragons and knights and glowy trees and shit! I was fuckin' 6 years old or something, they totally blew my mind. Hey Éodan, did you see that shit?

Guard 2: No, I think that's before I lived in Gondor.

Guard 1: Wait, you're not from here?

Guard 2: Oh, no, I grew up in Rohan. We moved here when I was, like, thirteen because my uncle Éojeff said he could get my dad a sweet job. And also that there were houses that didn't smell like horseshit.

Guard 1: Oh shit, are you related to Éojeff and Éosteve who run that æbleskiver stand on Norndîl St?

Guard 2: Yeah, they're my uncles!

Guard 1: Shit, they cook a fuckin' great æbleskiver!

Librarian: Ok, hold up a sec, "Stick Elf" can't possibly be his real name.

Guard 1: Why not?

Librarian: What? You think his parents named him in the hopes that he would carry around a fucking tree when he got older?

Guard 2: Maybe they gave him the tree when he was born!

Archivist: I don't think a baby could carry that stick.

Guard 1: You ever seen a baby hanging onto something? They're hella strong.

Archivist: It's not a strength thing, their hands are tiny. That staff is enormous!

Guard 1: My halberd's bigger 'n I am, I can hold it just fine.

Archivist: You're not a baby.

Librarian: Also why would elf parents name their kid "stick ELF"?! Presumably they know that their kid's going to be an elf!

Archivist: Is he actually an elf? I didn't think they grew beards.

Guard 1: How'd he get old as balls if he's not an elf?

Guard 2: His ears aren't that pointy. Maybe he's just a really old guy? Like, a Numémoriam or something?

Guard 1: Did you just say "Numémoriam"?

Guard 2: Nûnenorman? Munimõrbitan? Y'know, those guys like the king that can get super old.

Guard 1: You mean the fuckin' Númenóreans?

Guard 2: Yeah, the Númenóreums.

Archivist: Even the Númenóreans don't live THAT long.

Guard 1: Plus he carries that fuckin' stick around.

Guard 2: Wait, what does the stick have to do with it?

Guard 1: That's an elf thing. Y'know, trees and shit? Very elfy.

Librarian: Ok, look, but his parents naming him "Stick Elf" would be weird whether or not he's an elf. In fact, it's even weirder if he's not - what human names their kid "elf"?

Archivist: Huh. Yeah, you're right, he probably does have another name.

Guard 2: Yeah, I guess so.

Librarian: He's been coming here for decades and nobody's ever asked his real name?

Archivist: I dunno what to tell you, he's Stick Elf. Even his library card just says 'Stick Elf'.

Guard 1: Fuck yeah, the Stick Elf!

Guard 2: Maybe we could, like, ask him his name sometime?

Guard 1: Hey, look, Elrond's over there. He's old as balls too, maybe he knows?

Guard 2: Oh, we shouldn't interru-

Guard 1: HEY ELROND, YOU'RE OLD AS BALLS, RIGHT? WHAT'S THAT OLD ELF WITH THE STICK'S NAME?

Elrond (coming over): Do you mean an old man cloaked all in grey and blue, leaning on a rough-cut staff, who came to the great library this day?

Guard 1: Yeah, the Stick-Elf!

Guard 2: (Sorry to bother you, sir...)

Librarian: He's got to have a real name besides 'the Stick Elf', right?

Elrond: Indeed, for no elf is he. You speak of the wizard Olórin, wisest of the Maiar, older even than Eä itself. Many are his names in many countries: Tharkûn among the Dwarves; Incánus to the south; Mithrandir he is called among my people, the Grey Pilgrim.

Librarian: Oh.

Elrond: And here in the North he is called Stick-Elf.

Librarian: Oh.

Guard 1: Fuck yeah!

Stop posting workplace conversations on main

My favorite Tolkien illustrations by Cor Blok in no particular order:

Bilbo and Gollum. Bilbo is the moon for some reason which is cool i guess

Smeagol and Deagol. I love the seaweed in the background, great attention to detail

Frodo serving Robin Hood-realness at his and Bilbo’s birthday party. Literally iconic

Isildur taking the ring from Sauron. Its great but I would like to see more of Sauron than just his hand, because I think he has the potential to look really cool

Pippin jumping into the bath at Crickhollow… no comment

Bilbo gives the Mithril coat to Frodo. Great poses, very stiff and awkward. I like it.

The fellowship. This one is a classic.

Gandalf and the balrog. Amazing

Boromir trying to take the ring from Frodo. I love the way he reaches for his sword, it looks very natural

Merry and Pippin and Treebeard. I like his legs and the fact that it looks like he’s wearing shorts.

The battle of Helms Deep. This one is just great for a lot of reasons. I like how the orcs in the background are just happy and sad smileys. Gimli is throwing a rock at them. I don’t know who the guy with a red hat is in the background, but I love him.

Gandalf, Theoden, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli finding Merry and Pippin in Isengard ft fucked up Shadowfax. Look at them smiling!

Sam, Frodo and Gollum. Frodo got rid of his Robin Hood hat which is a shame, but Gollum with a beak makes up for it.

Eowyn protecting Theoden from the Witch King. The fellbeast is a crow or perhaps a raven. Merry is hanging on the side, stabbing Witch King in the leg and he looks amazing

Mt Doom. Frodo looks very chill about getting his finger bit off, and Sam is just kind of floating there. I love everything about Gollum

Another unfinished thought: 

The Lord of the Rings isn’t just a blend of narrative styles, it’s a melding of narrative paradigms. The Elves are in a tragic story; events that involve them are characterized by beauty and sorrow. The Men are in a heroic story; their elements are weakness and strength. The Hobbits are in a comic story and their elements are fear and comfort.

Further: Merry and Pippin, having spent most of their story with Men, get an ending in the heroic paradigm: triumph, coronation, social order restored and renewed. Sam gets the hobbit ending: marriage and homecoming. And Frodo just walks straight off into an Elvish story.