Now presenting, in its full, complete, and downloadable glory, the Racism and Middle Earth series! This six part guide to Tolkien and Racism collects relevant tidbits from Tolkien’s own writings (from the most familiar to the most obscure) in order to highlight what the most problematic and the most potential-ridden parts of Middle Earth are, and outlines how we, as fans, can make Middle Earth a better place for characters of all ethnicities.

Each chapter is summarized in the photos above. The series can be downloaded as a .pdf, .ibook, or text-only .pdf (warning: the text version is not pretty, and is missing some important maps, so use only as a last resort.) I’ve also got a list of articles, essays, and blog posts on the subject of Middle Earth and racism here, for anyone wanting to learn more, or just looking for a different perspective/take on the issue. 

(For those who read the original blog posts, there have been a few changes to this final version - mainly additions made to Part I.)

This is an excerpt from the collection of essays titled “Myths Transformed”, found in volume 10 of The Histories of Middle Earth. This particular section discusses the differences between Sauron and Morgoth, especially concerning their motives is attempting world domination.

This excerpt was recorded as part of my Tolkien Reading Day 2015 celebrations. You can download the file as a .mp3 here (length: 8:12), and you can find other stories that I’ve recorded here. (Also, please excuse any mispronunciations or stutters - I recorded this in one take, so it’s not perfect.)

I couldn’t let Tolkien Reading Day go by without doing something, so I’m reblogging some of my favorite TRD posts from past years - find more on the blog’s Tolkien Reading Day tag!

A fun little activity to celebrate Tolkien Reading Day 2015 - a mad lib!, for all those who’s hearts dwell in the Shire. Simply write down your list of words (according to the instructions above), and then go here to find your story. Enjoy!

I couldn’t let Tolkien Reading Day go by without doing something, so I’m reblogging some of my favorite TRD posts from past years - find more on the blog’s Tolkien Reading Day tag!

So, about a week ago I asked you all if you had any fanfiction recommendations for me? And wow, you definitely did. Over 200 recommendations later, I present: The Tolkien Reading Day 2014 Fanfiction Recommendation Archive Blog. 

Okay, so it’s title is not its strong point. Moving on. In this special never-to-be-updated-again blog you’ll find over 200 fanfiction recommendations from Tolkien-loving tumblrites like yourself. I can guarantee that you will find a very wide range of stories in there. Short little drabbles, huge epics, stories that follow the canon to incredible details, and stories that gleefully ignore canon whenever possible. We’ve got plot-driven stories and steamy vignettes, romances of all kinds (seriously, all kinds), humor, angst, and everything in between. All books and cultures are generously represented, and they’re all available to you with the click of your mouse (or mousepad)

So go! Go, and explore the wide world of Tolkien fanfiction! Though I might recommend you make sure you’ve got a few hours to spare, because it is really easy to get lost in there.

I couldn’t let Tolkien Reading Day go by without doing something, so I’m reblogging some of my favorite TRD posts from past years - find more on the blog’s Tolkien Reading Day tag!

This is an excerpt from “The Fall of Gondolin.” Though the story is part of the Silmarillion, this is a much older and more detailed version found in The Book of Lost Tales (Part 2.) If any of the name seem weird (like sometimes elves are called “gnomes”, and Morgoth is called Melko), that’s because it’s from such an old draft.

This excerpt was recorded as part of my Tolkien Reading Day 2015 celebrations. You can download the file as an .mp3 here (length: 11:19), and you can find other stories that I’ve recorded here. (Also, please excuse any mispronunciations or stutters - I recorded this in one take, so it’s not perfect.)

I couldn’t let Tolkien Reading Day go by without doing something, so I’m reblogging some of my favorite TRD posts from past years - find more on the blog’s Tolkien Reading Day tag!

In honor of Tolkien Reading Day, here’s Part I of “Which Tolkien Book Should You Read Next?”, a guide for the indecisive reader. Includes a list of “recommended if”/“not recommended if” for each book, as well as any movie adaptation issues you might want to know, and in general what to expect from each book.

Check back in a few hours for “Part II: Supplementary Books”!

I couldn’t let Tolkien Reading Day go by without doing something, so I’m reblogging some of my favorite TRD posts from past years - find more on the blog’s Tolkien Reading Day tag!

Children of Húrin Read-Along Schedule

As you know, the read-along is starting today, Monday February 8th! It will be 3 weeks long, and we will be reading about 5 chapters each week.

There will be discussions hosted in our goodreads group, and we will be tracking the tag #cohreadalong if you want to post fanart, pictures or anything else read-along related on tumblr.

Looking forward to delving into Arda with you again!

Now presenting, in its full, complete, and downloadable glory, the Racism and Middle Earth series! This six part guide to Tolkien and Racism collects relevant tidbits from Tolkien’s own writings (from the most familiar to the most obscure) in order to highlight what the most problematic and the most potential-ridden parts of Middle Earth are, and outlines how we, as fans, can make Middle Earth a better place for characters of all ethnicities.

Each chapter is summarized in the photos above. The series can be downloaded as a .pdf, .ibook, or text-only .pdf (warning: the text version is not pretty, and is missing some important maps, so use only as a last resort.) I’ve also got a list of articles, essays, and blog posts on the subject of Middle Earth and racism here, for anyone wanting to learn more, or just looking for a different perspective/take on the issue. 

(For those who read the original blog posts, there have been a few changes to this final version - mainly additions made to Part I.)

LotR Sequel: The New Shadow

(I’m going to tackle the fanfiction question separately, so stay tuned for that one!)

Tolkien did start writing a sequel to LOTR that takes place in Gondor. However, though he tinkered with it a few times, he actually wrote very little of it. Eventually he abandoned it entirely, stating that it “was not worth doing.” He was unhappy with the story for a couple reasons. On a narrative level he claimed that the story would be nothing more than a “thriller” - the story of the discovery and overthrow of a secret plot.

And on a more philosophical level he seemed very unhappy with what he saw as the inevitable “sinister and depressing” progression of the men of Gondor. Though the story takes place just over a century after the War of the Ring, due to the “inevitable boredom of Men with the good, there would be secret societies practicing dark cults, and ‘orc-cults’ among adolescents.”

What we’re left with is the first eight pages of this sequel (titled The New Shadow), of which most is taken up by a philosophical debate between Borlas (the younger son of Beregond), and a friend of his own son, named Saelon. Though the eight pages don’t reveal too much of the eventual plot, it seems that Saelon is a member of a growing secret dark cult (which, based on Tolkien’s description, seems to be a resurgence of Morgoth worship). Apparently there’s also a revolutionary plot (which probably aims to overthrow Eldarion, Aragorn’s son), which I’m assuming is defeated in the end. We have no idea if there was a specific villain in the story - the most we have is the mention of a name associated with the cult, Herumor. (Interesingly, “Herumor” had already been used for one of the Black Numenoreans of the Second Age. Whether the two are supposed to be related or not is unknown.)

What little we do know can be read in The History of Middle Earth vol. 12, but there really isn’t much. Tolkien pretty much says it himself “I of course discovered that the King’s Peace would contain no tales worth recounting." 

SOURCES: The History of Middle Earth vol. 12 ("The New Shadow”)

Hierarchy Among the Elves

((These were both multi-question asks, so I blocked out the other questions to keep this post focused. Plus, it was really fun to go through and redact things, lol.))

This is a really interesting question, and one that I spent some time trying to decide how to answer. Because, in the end, I think it really depends. If we were to look at it from a strictly political point of view, Thranduil comes out on top every time, being the only actual king in the group. But there are other things to take into account:

Galadriel

Elrond

Celeborn

Thranduil

By almost all these categories, Arwen (as well as Elrond’s sons) outrank Legolas. He only beats them on paper, due to technically having the title of Prince, while they do not. But see this post for more information on inherited power among the elves, if interested. The full elf/peredhil issue doesn’t seem to count against Elrond’s children. This is likely because the couples that created the peredhil - Beren and Luthien, Tuor and Idril, were so incredibly important in the First Age that being their descendant is too much of an honor to also be a detriment.

SOURCES: The Silmarillion, LOTR, LOTR Appendices, The Hobbit, The Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle Earth series

((To be thorough I really should have included Cirdan, as well as probably some of the dead elven lords, such as Gil-galad. But this post ended up way too long as it is. Let me know if you want me to go into this issue in any more detail.))

Female Elvish Warriors

It was actually very rare. In all of Tolkien’s stories I can remember no mention of an elvish woman ever fighting in battle. ((EDIT: Galadriel is mentioned in battle a couple times. She tore down the walls of Dol Guldur during the Battle Under Trees during the War of the Ring in the Third Age, and in some versions of The Silmarillion she also fights in the Kinslaying at Alqualonde (on the Teleri’s side.))) Occasionally a woman would fight to defend herself or something, but formally joining an army in battle? Extremely rare.

In “Laws and Customs Among the Eldar” Tolkien gives an explanation for this. He explains that, while there are no professions or skills among the elves that either gender can or cannot do, there are certain skills that are more common among one gender.

His example of this is that women tend to make very skilled healers. Among the elves it is believed that to kill a person (even justly or in self-defense) diminishes your healing power. So healers (even male healers!) wouldn’t hunt or go to battle. And, since so many women were healers, it was very very rare to see women go to battle. Tolkien does mention, though, that when women do fight, they are just as fast and just as strong as the men.

(So, though this isn’t really what the question was about, the more militant elf-women we see in the movies, such as Arwen at the ford, or Tauriel in general, are possible, just unlikely.)

SOURCES: History of Middle Earth vol. 10 (“Laws and Customs Among the Eldar”)

Morgoth and Iluvatar

This is kind of a common philosophical/theological debate that people have even today with real world religions - if there is some sort of evil/devil type figure, why hasn’t the god(s) destroyed it? Every religion has its way of handling these questions, but for Tolkien, it seems that Iluvatar didn’t stop Morgoth because, in the end, Morgoth was actually furthering Iluvatar’s work the whole time.

The Ainulindale is the best place to study the relationship between Iluvatar and Morgoth, and there are a couple especially relevant quotes. The best, I think, is Iluvatar’s response to hearing the Music with Morgoth (then Melkor)’s discordant melody:

Basically, for those who don’t understand Tolkien’s version of archaic English, Iluvatar is saying that Melkor (or any of the Ainur) cannot create anything that doesn’t ultimately come from Iluvatar. And that any attempt to create something against Illuvatar’s wishes is really only going to result in the creation of something even better that Melkor didn’t intend, and that only fulfills Iluvatar’s own plans.

We see this play out a little further into the book, when Iluvatar is talking to Ulmo:

Basically what we see here is an example of Morgoth’s attempts to destroy Ulmo’s work with water. He tries to freeze it, but only creates the beauty of snow and ice. He tries to burn it up, but instead only creates clouds and mist, and brings Ulmo and Manwe closer together in their own work. Things were all things that Iluvatar approved of, but could only have happened through Morgoth’s own work.

In short, Iluvatar doesn’t destroy Morgoth or take his powers away because, evil though Morgoth’s methods may be, he is necessary in Middle Earth. He is directly responsible for many of the things that Iluvatar designed for Middle Earth (like, say, the Misty Mountains), and in other ways he serves as an indirect catalyst for many of the other important developments we see (like the alliance between Ulmo and Manwe, or even just the heroes we see crop up among the Free Peoples in their attempts to fight Morgoth’s evil.

SOURCES: The Silmarillion

Theories as to the Origin of Orcs

((First of all, I’m so sorry that it took me so long to answer this question - it required sorting through a bunch of research, and I just kept, well, not finishing it.))

For the differences between orcs and goblins, see this post. And as to the origins of orcs, that’s actually a really complicated question, mostly because Tolkien never really made a decision on this. For the “official”, published version, see this post. But below I’ve given a brief explanation of the various origin theories that Tolkien considered.

There’s a lot of debate among fans about which origin is the “True” one. Many argue that the last theory Tolkien wrote (not sure exactly which one, but it’s either the corrupted men or the sentient beasts origins) are the True stories. Others argue that the corrupted elves origin is True, since it was published in the Silmarillion and mentioned in the Peter Jackson movies. It’s up to you to decide which theory is true for you (to be honest, I kind of like all of them for various reasons.)

On the blog, unless the post is specifically related to one of the other origin stories, I’m assuming that the published corrupted elves origin is the “true” one - or, more accurately, I’m using this story as the default origin story. Mainly because it’s the origin that the most people are familiar with, so it’s the least confusing.

SOURCES: The Silmarillion, History of Middle Earth vol. 10 (“Myths Transformed: Orcs”)

Thranduil's "Greed"

((This was a multi-question ask, so I blocked out the other questions to keep this post focused. Plus, it was really fun to go through and redact things, lol.))

Not really… Of course, you’re free to interpret Thranduil’s character however you’d like, but there isn’t much in The Hobbit that supports this claim.  Many readers think of Thranduil as greedy, and it’s all thanks to this quote:

Now, I admit, this whole paragraph makes Thranduil look pretty bad. But I honestly believe that the first half (the reference to ancient wars and conflicts between the dwarves and the elves) is actually a reference to Thingol. Since The Hobbit was written before Tolkien had cemented a lot of the Silmarillion stories, and certainly before he ever thought they’d be published, it’s very possible that he mixed Thingol’s story in with Thranduil. This theory is supported by the fact that, later on in the paragraph, Tolkien tells us that Thorin’s people weren’t involved with these old conflicts - if it wasn’t the dwarves of Moria, then it must have been the dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost, which were involved with the elves of the First Age.

The second part of the quote explains that the reason Thranduil is interested in gold is because he sees it as a measure of his worth as a ruler. He compares his own treasure to the treasure amassed by the great elf-lords of the First Age. It’s not that he wants gold and jewels for the sake of having gold and jewels. He wants it because he believes it will prove that he is a great ruler. So it’s not really pure greed (at least, not greed for treasure.) All in all, the whole paragraph sounds worse than it actually is.

Furthermore, Thranduil’s actions throughout the rest of the book suggest that he’s actually pretty willing to prioritize other issues over the accumulation of treasure. Yes, he responds to news of Smaug’s demise by marching straight for Erebor (where he thinks the treasure has been left unprotected.) But as soon as Bard’s messengers arrive, pleading for help with the wounded and homeless people of Esgaroth, he changes course and sends ahead food and supplies, arriving with his people to help rebuild the town. And later, when Bard suggests they attack the dwarves before they’ve had a chance to prepare for battle, Thranduil refuses, saying “Long wil I tarry, ere I begin this war for gold.”

Basically, while Thranduil likes treasure (who doesn’t), he isn’t portrayed as caring for gold and jewels above all else. He is willing to put aside the promise of treasure in order to help his friends, and even to avoid a fight with his enemies/not-really-friends.

SOURCES: The Hobbit

The Shannara Chronicles

Hey nerds! I hope you’re enjoying your summer (or winter) because I definitely am! I’m breaking hiatus a little here ‘cause I had the opportunity to get inside ComicCon this year (as opposed to lurking outside like I normally do) and I went to a panel I think you’ll find interesting.

Every once in a while somebody asks me for Tolkien-ish book recommendations, and one of my usuals is Terry Brooks’s Shannara series. Well then imagine my excitement when I hear MTV is adapting The Elfstones of Shannara for television in 2016 (titled The Shannara Chronicles)!!! The trailer was AMAZING (like, holy-crap-i-can’t-believe-this-is-MTV amazing, you can watch it right here at the bottom of this post and see for yourself), they filmed in New Zealand (which, let’s be honest, is always a good sign), and the cast includes our friends Manu Bennett and John Rhys-Davies! So get excited Tolkien fans, because I really think this is going to be awesome!

Also, for the fans, I’ve got a quote from Mr. Rhys-Davies here (he plays Eventine, the elvish king):

The premier airs tonight! Try to find some way to watch it, because i think it’s going to be pretty awesome!

Aule and Morgoth

It’s pretty bad, right? I mean, Sauron studied under Aule, and Saruman also studied with Aule, and both become evil. Beyond that, the Noldor are certainly the closest any group of elves is going to get to being evil, and they were Aule’s favorites. And, let’s face it, the dwarves are definitely the bad boys of Middle Earth. So what is it? Does Aule just have phenomenally bad luck? Is he somehow encouraging (consciously or subconsciously) his proteges to become evil? To get a better understanding of this, it’s really helpful to look at the relationship between Aule and Morgoth as described in The Silmarillion:

So, really, Morgoth and Aule were incredibly similar except for the spirit in which they approached their work. So I think it’s not so much that Aule somehow makes people become evil, but that those who already had that potential tend to gravitate towards him.

An analogy, if you don’t mind: it’s like how in movies the evil assassin is always trained by the military. The military is like the assassins in that they both use violence and (ultimately) kill people. But while the military teaches people to use violence for protection/etc, the assassins use violence to hurt people/for evil. People who want to learn these skills can’t very well go find an assassin to train them (since they’re supposed to be off the grid and secretive and such), so they go to the military. In the end, it ’s not that the military trains people to be evil. It’s just that those who seek out that type of training are just as likely to want to use those skills for evil as good. OBVIOUSLY this is a vastly generalized analogy, but you get the point.

SOURCES: The Simarillion, LOTR

((The artwork by the wonderful Ted Nasmith shows that Aule was willing to destroy the dwarves when he realized that he’d upset Iluvatar’s plans. This is something that Morgoth would never do, showing the difference in spirits between the two.))