#gender and sexuality in gondor

[lesbiansforboromir]

Hello! I am here today to post an agonisingly long HC about Gondorian-Dunadain/Faithful held beliefs and philosophies on sex and marriage. As per Tolkienian necessity when trying to apply to canon, this is going to be incredibly catholic, homophobic, racist and sexist BUT we’re also subverting it later so... keep hanging on!

Firstly, to define the generally accepted in-world scholastic origin for a lot of these beliefs, some of which are metaphysically ‘true’ for the in-universe offered mechanics of souls. I will be initially stealing a few concepts from an ancient magnum opus fanfic called Hands of the King, namely that   Silmariën (daughter of Tar-Palantir in Numenor, ancestress to Elendil and essentially the mother of the Faithful Dunadain) had a massive and foundational impact on the culture of the Faithful. The Silmariën Discourses are a well reproduced and distributed collatation of all her writings on all aspects of living a ‘Faithful life’ that she wrote throughout her life. And whilst they touch on many diverse topics, sex and marriage is one of them. 

Of course, these ideas were heavily influenced by Numenorean understanding of elven traditions, hence LaCE is also an in-universe document in a manner of speaking, written by even earlier Numenorean scholars during the periods of great friendship between elves and Numenor. 

And then, whilst the Silmariën discourses serve as the basis for these customs in Gondor and Arnor and are still quite a common sight within Gondorian libraries and upperclass bookshelves, even taught in schools to a certain degree, other sages and scholars in both Arnor and Gondor have added too or debated their details for generations since then. Hence amongst the Southern and Northern Dunadain you will find differences of custom and perspective. 

And finally, whilst this is technically the attitude of the ‘dominant’ culture in Gondor, it is at the same time technically a culture belonging to an ethnic minority. Even if it is the widespread and reinforced perspective, taught to every citizen within Gondor, it is in no way the only perspective and opinions upon it are complex and diverse throughout the many people groups that make up the country itself. With all that in mind, here is the basic framework of the traditonal viewpoint;

- Obviously, the first major point; sex is for marriage and procreation alone. It is a joy, but only when it is shared between you and your 'one', your partner in body and soul. Otherwise it is a corruption and a symptom of your tragic fall from grace. - In Elves this concept is spiritually enforced, the Faithful (and elves themselves) believe that elves cannot have sex outside of marriage for sex to them is a matter of bonding souls in and of itself and to share that intimacy with anyone who wasn’t your bonded partner would cause harm to you. This is because elves interact with the world using their souls, their bodies are more like vessels, it is their souls that bind them to the world. - However, because humans are connected to the world by their bodies and when they die they leave the circles of Arda never to return, they have been allowed the clemency and mercy of a less restrictive and more fluid matter of choice. It is a grievous hurt to be separated from your soul’s partner, so the atani are allowed ‘lesser’ bonds of love and companionship as they pass through the world. - But this clemency has a downside, it allows room for corruption. This corruption appears in many forms, such as polygamy, queer attraction, promiscuity, marriage for anything but love and sexual violence, but each of them are all to be deeply pitied as signs of a weak and feeble mind and heart that has succumbed to the evil influences of Arda-marred. Such people can resist their corruptions, but they should not be allowed to influence others. - As Silmarien explains it; "If Men are made to be visitors of short passage, then it is right that they shall be loath to bind themselves to someone else and be sundered from that beloved; two wills are deprived of their choice and much grief must follow. Men could give their forms in marriage, yet withhold their full will, something the Elves simply could not do. While this might lessen their grief at the inevitable passing of their mate, it also left open the door for corruption by the Enemy, for Men were tempted very easily into bestial ways, abusing this grace by sharing their bodies promiscuously." - It is generally accepted amongst the Dunadain that, if you are 'a man of high race’, you are more protected against this corruption than those of less blessed lineages. And the truer the blood of Numenor runs in you, the more you are expected to lead a ‘blessed’ life and wed your heart’s true partner. But you are not exempt! Through life or evil thoughts, one might still become corrupted and be inspired to baser deeds and corrupted lifestyles, making you alike to the heretics of old Numenor. - But the Atani should not despair, for (uncorrupted) men are still capable of the same depths of devotion in marriage as elves. Those of high race can indeed experience similar aspects of soul-bonding, ‘willing’ their souls together and knowing that person on a more intimate and spiritual level, sensing their presence and so forth. And this is believed to be the ‘true nature’ of men. - And in combination with that, as a combat to this problem of corruption, marriage as a ceremony allows a more physical solution to the issue of men’s wills and partners, both as a public declaration of that will, as well as an aid to those averagely-corrupted men. Marriage creates an environment that will, hopefully, lead men towards their natural ‘willing’ and a blessed life. 

There is some division over one passage within Silmarien’s discourses;

"While Men may not be compelled to will their marriage in the manner of the Eldar, holding forever steadfast to a single choice, still they are capable of it and it is their proper nature. In marital congress are their wills given unity with their forms. It is known among the Dúnedain for some to will thusly from the start or all at once, and those who do are changed and never repent of their choice. Most who will, however, come slowly to this state; their willing is weaker and may sometimes be broken or relinquished. Even so, most Dúnedain will know this joy. To be pitied are those who, like lesser Men, cannot or will not fulfill their natures. They are corrupt."

In Gondor, in the later third age, it is no longer socially acceptable to speak the opinion that ‘lesser men’ are incapable of the same depth of love as the Dunadain. This does not mean none hold that opinion, only that society has enough middle men within it, even in the higher classes, that they have pushed social graces toward a less derogatory view. Though it still often influences the Southern Dunadain philosophy. 

However, within the northern dunadain, it is still a fully accepted wisdom and partly accounts for both their isolationism and the lack of Dunadain marrying into wider families in Eriador. Cautionary tales from Northern Dunadain to their sons and daughters run thus; it is tragic but you must not fall for the illusion of love in the eyes of these middle men, their devotion cannot be true, you are destined for a higher love.  

SO! That’s all the bigotry out of the way, now for my headcanoned ‘true’ mechanics of all this that I am holding as canon for my character and world interpretations on this blog. These hcs both semi-apply to the ideas of ‘fea’ as they are set out, but also allow gay people to exist and for elves to be able to sleep with who they want without canonically being a sickness of the soul or whatever. 

So, yes, Elves have souls that are more seperate from their bodies. They are immortal, as in they live so long it might as well be classed as forever within the confines of Aman. And their body is not what keeps them there, it is just the way they move around the world and interact with it physically. Whereas mortals,  (putting a pin in dwarves for the moment) such as humans and hobbits are bound to Arda by their bodies alone and when their bodies are killed so is their connection to this world and they leave to ‘somewhere else’. Unspecified. As such, elves and their bondmates will not suffer the sorrow of parting forever, whereas humans might. Hence, elven souls ‘bond’ during sex, whereas humans must ‘will’ for it to occur.

Which, in terms of morality, are all neutral facts until you include the machinations of the Valar and Eru and what they WANT it all to mean. I am galvanised by the idea that, whilst some technical aspects of these things are true, the actual meaning of them have been distorted, first by colonialist elves, who then encouraged colonialist humans, and whom were all inspired by Valar unwilling to believe themselves wrong in any way despite the fact that Morgoth also distorted their understanding of the world they had sung of to begin with. And meanwhile Eru does not care about any of it, he only cares if his 'right to the throne of the world’ is being challenged. 

The concept I am running with is the idea that the true ultimate 'divine' aspect of the world comes from the Secret Fire, which Eru used to kindle life yes, but which is in fact a distinct entity from him, unknowable even to him. And in kindling life, it naturally diversified into it’s own aspects of life in completely neutral ways that were meant to coexist and collaborate to produce a harmonious world for the benefit of all. But, upon being placed into a world still ruled by Valar (whom are canonically flawed in actions, motives and understanding whilst also possessing great power) that world and the new life within it was subject to their influences and persuaded by their held beliefs of the ‘right’ way of life, that some of the diverse aspects the secret fire took that they did not understand were ‘corruptions’. Hence the elven faithful belief system was born.

Which, (completely and utterly whoops by accident and unbiased happenstance on my part) creates the situation where Boromir and all of Gondor can say 'I don't care what is divinely ordained to be right as god claims it and I do not care if it is for some great plan I could never understand, I know it to be wrong in my heart' and they are fundamentally correct for saying that, because they (and all other creatures in arda) ARE the secret fire and are therefore actually more divine than Eru is in the end.

They can be handed all of these truths about souls and bonding and death and all the works of the Valar and Morgoth's corruption and so forth that all SEEM to support these Valar-originated concepts and the elves and Eru's divine supremacy and ownership over all creation etc and still say I don't care, I don't care if I'm divinely wrong. I'm humanely right and I would rather hold to that mundane choice than be holy in the eyes of a divinity that claims these things.

Hence some ‘heretical’ elves can nod and agree, yes, elves bond, souls become entangled. I have bonded many times, I have shared my soul with many, both in the elven way, the dwarven way and the human way. I unlearned what I was taught and listened to what my soul told me, that elves can create their own realities, we can decide what things mean to us, what a soulbond of love looks like. The fact that I am more soulfully made up of all the pieces of many people who loved me is a beautiful strength not a corrupted weakness.

And Boromir, whom had in essentials been agnostic to the whole thing as a young man and was then confronted by the strange evidence of him being ‘of high race’ in his natural ‘willing’ to Theodred. He eventually acknowledges, yes, I am experiencing some of these things people talk about, which makes it seem like what the Faithful preach is true, and therefore I am corrupted and my love for Theodred is a corruption, despite my ‘willing’ to him. But I have decided I don't care. This is the life I lead, this is the love I have. If it is not acceptable to God then he should have given me a different life and made me a different man.

And Denethor who spends his whole life trying to negotiate with divinity, he cares, he does, he wants to be faithful, he wants to be good! But faith keeps failing him, failing everyone and everything he cares about, he has been abandoned by God in the midst of a holy way FOR God, and yet so many of these seemingly innocuous things are wrong? And eventually he is angry and betrayed and says fine, I will be what you believe me to be, this thing you call a great sin is far kinder and far more just than anything divinity has ever asked of me.

And all of them are right! Because the Secret Fire is divine, in and of itself, and what it wills is what is right for it’s own existence. 

THERE again so sorry, this is even longer than I thought it would be.

[goldandlights]

*breathes unsteadily in gay!Faramir afraid of what will happen when rumors of his preferences reach the new King*

[spinningalbinoturtle]

The fellowship of the Kinsey scale aka LoTR characters ranked from most to least fruity

Btw this is a joke (well sort of) so don’t take any of my stereotype arguments too seriously. Although I do genuinely think most of these characters are gay.

1. Frodo- Frodo is gayest the character. He’s constantly described as queer, his deepest connection is with Sam and their relationship is incredibly romance coded. Plus he reads poetry all the time, wears his sparkly elvish top and that fall in Return of the King movie? Homosexual. Not to mention he has THE gay haircut. Man looks like a starbucks barista. Galadriel is his gay icon.

Sam- although more masculine than Frodo and also bi Sam has the second most Gay EnergyTM. He’s a bit overemotional he spends the entire series simping over Frodo and is obsessed with flowers and poetry. When his wife dies he leaves his kids to spend eternity with his husband and the elves. Gay behavior

Legolas- Legolas is a petty drama queen and I love that for him. Loves his dwarf husband. Just look at his hair-no straight man cares that much about their hair. Gay gay gay.

Gimli-a bear but in the dwarf way. Galadriel is also his gay icon. Loves his elf husband. Loves some sparkly diamonds and jewels. Lord of the GLITTERING CAVES you say? Sounds kinda fruity

Gandalf-he’s basically a minor god and thus does not conform to human ideas of sexuality and gender. Literally all the LGBTQIAs. Gandalf Big Naturals , Gandalf the Gay are just a few of this bitch’s many names.

Pippin-Y’all on this app have convinced me Pippin is not cis gender. I don’t know in what form trans, non binary, gender fluid? Honestly could be any one.

Merry-pansexual and very open about it. Just seems like a chill queer dude who smokes a ton of weed and is open to a relationship with anybody

Boromir-excessively emphasizes his straightness but has homoerotic battle moments and after battle showers with his comrades in Gondor. Very repressed bisexual

Aragorn- I think its funny if he’s the token straight but THE BIGGEST ALLY YOU WILL FIND. Literal king passes a bunch of laws enshrining LGBTQ rights cause all his friends are gay

Bonus

Faramir- is transfem and you can’t change my mind. Lesbian with her wife Eowyn. Has bi-to drag queen-to trans character arc.

Eowyn-butch lesbian horse girl and ya know what? We absolutely love her for it. After the war she has a buzzcut.

Bilbo-ace icon. I’M SORRY if you ship Bagginshield but I headcanon him as ace/aro. Hates the idea of sex but wanted kids so he adopted his gay little nephew.

[bespokeminutiae]

It's Pride Month. Have some Temenos Headcanons!

Disclaimer: I have not finished the game. I've only played through the Crackridge part of Temenos's chapter 3.

Please do not put spoilers on my post!!

So as of Temenos' Chapter 3 part 1 here's my impression of him:

He's autistic

He has a special interest in people, especially in social interaction.

This is not the same thing as having good social skills.

He's a fairly private person, instead having several different masks that he puts on based on the social situation he's in.

He has "kindly parish priest" for the kiddos, "scary inquisitor" for adults who he expects to respect his authority, "customer service smile of please die" for adults who have power over him (except the pontiff), and "snarky asshole" for people he trusts with it. (you can kinda see this in the game dialogue imo!)

Pre-travelling, he doesn't have a lot of friends. He has a lot of colleagues, but not a lot of friends.

50/50 odds for each individual friendship as to whether Temenos likes the other person less than the other person likes him or whether the other person likes Temenos less than Temenos likes the other person.

Crick definitely likes Temenos more than Temenos likes Crick, but Crick keeps spending time with him and isn't just putting up with his presence, so Temenos is growing to like him more and more.

He has to concede that the other travelers are his friends after months of traveling with them, but he definitely gets on best with Osvald, Throné, and Cassti.

He has a soft spot for Agnea and Ochette, but has trouble seeing them as adults instead of as basically equivalent to the parish children who come watch his paper plays.

He's Transmasc

His gender and presentation are designed to do two things, in order of priority: Minimize dysphoria, and manage other people's expectations.

Like literally the cleric profession has a shapeless robe as the uniform for both genders. Nothing says "Please stop hitting on me" and "I do not wish to think about my body" quite like a shapeless robe. Tell me I'm wrong. You can't.

Definitely entered the church fairly young to avoid getting hit on/having to think about his gender

when he did get hit on as a young teen, it was less because he was attractive and more because he was low-hanging fruit.

Gondor has no binder. Gondor needs no binder.

Gondor has no ass. Gondor needs no ass.

To this day, he's a stick and absolutely uses the robes/cloak to be bigger/more intimidating.

Investigating his gender/sexuality came fairly easy to him Both because "Doubt is what I do" and also because this man is pretty autistic and sometimes social norms/gender expectations are stupid.

If he used modern American language to describe himself, he'd probably be a Triple A (Autistic, Agender, Asexual)

In-setting, what I think he settled on is that being a man (short hair, male pronouns) provides him with the most comfortable experience in his society--it gets him the respect he wants (for the most part) when he needs it and it shields him from harassment/danger (for the most part) that would come with being a woman, and anything further is a private matter.

It's not obvious what the structure of the church is and whether there's sexism involved in who does what job, but Octopath still does have some sexism baked into the setting as a whole in ways that make me feel like Temenos would find it advantageous to choose to be a man (so to speak) in this society, even if his personal feelings are somewhat more complicated.

They're not that much more complicated. He mostly doesn't think about it. It's not relevant to the investigation.

[a-elf-not-a-chocolate-company]

Name: Lindor

Alias(s): N/A

Nickname (s): Lindt (Quilda), Traveler (Gondor), Wander (Rohan)

Gender: Male

Birth: End of Second age before the last alliance

Titles: Wandering Bard, Traveling Bard

Birth Place: Eregion

Heritage: Noldor Elvish Father, Elvish Mother

Parentage: High King Gil-Galad, Unknown Elvish Mother

Sibling(s): Lindir

Class: Rouge, Bard

Race: Elvish

Background: Raised by Elrond after the last alliance, the wandering bard left Imladris as soon as he could write a hook

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Origins: Born just before Gil-Galad left for battle with his twin never knew his actual father just knows that Elrond promised to take care of him and his twin

Weapons: Sword, Lute (He will smash his lute over your head if it is the only thing he has like it is a frying pan)

Magical Ability(s): Non

Appearance: 

Visual Age: 25 (immortal)

Eye Color: Brown

Hair Color: Brown

Hair Style: mostly down

Skin color: caramel

Proficiency: Swordsmanship, sleight of hand, Music

About:

Romantic Relationship: Taken

Ship: Open

Multiship: Yes

Partner(s): Feren

Sexuality: BI

Likes: His lovers, his brother, money

Dislikes: being broke, in severe debt to most kingdoms of middle earth and paying that debt off by making a massive debt in the greenwood or by busking at cross roads or taverns or even brothels

Relationships 

Elrond (Adoptive father):

Elrond promised Gil-Galad that if the king died he would take him his children so now he is stuck with a Minstrel and a Wandering Bard he doesn't mind it much Lindir makes himself useful and Lindor is hardly ever there but he loves them both as if they are his sons and he won't pay of Lindors debt because Elrond says he needs to learn

Lindir (younger Twin):

Lindir is in awe of his brother even if he is broke, he wishes to have his confidences and his skill in music but he has never found it but Lindor has taught him how to play a few instruments and get started on song writing

Feren (Lover):

Feren wasn't always Lindor's lover when they first met Lindor was trying to take Thranduil's treasure maybe that was why thranduil was fond of him because he had the nerve to try take his stuff, Feren stuck him in the dungeon and Lindor sung himself away and out of it after a few decades of talking with Feren, Elros and Thranduil, he worked in The tavern there as he truly liked feren but decided it was best he become a traveling bard once he was back in town Feren told him he really missed him and Lindor took it as a love confession and Feren never corrected him.

Thranduil

Thranduil is paying off some of Lindor's debts because he is fond of the bard, and he gets the bard performances for free apart from when he's drunk and gets Lindor to write him songs

Extra: 

He owes debts because of stuff he has stolen like mithril from the dwarves and a horse from Rohan

Even if he has a s/o be it RP or Feren he still fucks around and flirts with anyone he finds hot

He is a free spirit you can't tie him down

He will try and monster fuck, he has asked to fuck a Balrog and a Dragon before

Links:

Toss a coin for a song

[luna-writes-stuff]

From your celebration prompts list, how about 8 and 12 with Aragorn? They/them is good :)

Gondorian Tales, Aragorn

Fanfic, gender neutral! reader

Fluff. Just toothrotting fluff

Word count: 1213

Tw: Not proofread. Description of taking someone’s clothing off, but it’s not sexual. Description of exhaustion? Slight, almost unnoticeable self doubt with Aragorn. None else?

Summary: Having to aid your husband in his ruling of Gondor can be quite exhausting, and all you really wanted to do as soon as you entered your chamber was to fall asleep. But when you hear Aragorn arrive not much later with a gift from a citizen, you propose for him to read you a chapter. Something that would eventually lead up to a new habit.

An exhausted sigh left your mouth as you let your body fall onto the bed, the heavy royal robes following your movements.

Having been Aragorn’s spouse had always been amazing, and both of you shared a very special connection to one another, but ever since he had been claimed king in Gondor, countless duties followed. For both of you. And neither of you had been prepared for them.

You always escaped your duties fairly easy, as you were not ‘The King Himself’, but your presence was still heavily demanded.

You had been up since the sun rose from the distance, and it had been long since sunset. Where Aragorn had been since breakfast, you did not know. He was needed on the lower side of Gondor as you were left in the throne room. But as the palace began to slumber, you finally got permission to retreat to your own quarters.

You had expected Aragorn to be waiting there, but he had yet to show up. Had your life been as it was two years ago, you might have worried for him, but you knew he was safe in his own kingdom. Still, you longed for a proper conversation with him. To fall asleep with him next to you, instead of having to meet him again somewhere in the halls in a rushed morning.

You were beyond tired, and could not even force yourself to take off the robes that had been trailing behind you the entire day. No; you could quite easily fall asleep exactly like this.

And for all you know, you might have. Whether you had dozed off, or just lost understanding of your surroundings, you did not know. But the door opened suddenly, a light luminescence falling over the room.

A figure walked in, closing the door carefully, as if not to wake you. But you had already lifted your head, meeting the evenly exhausted eyes of your husband.

“Long day?” You whispered, not moving from your spot.

The man merely smiled, sitting down next to you while lowering the crown from his head.

“You did not have to wait on me.” He mumbled, running a hand through your hair as you leaned into his touch.

“I was too tired to change into my night robes.” You explained, your voice hoarse from your lack of use, telling you that you might have fallen asleep instead of spacing off.

“Did you bathe?” He checked, already running a hand down your back as he worked to untie the robes.

“I did not manage to move after I laid down,” You dead panned. “What makes you think I took that effort to take a bath?”

“Tomorrow then.” He proposed, carefully sliding the top half of your gown off.

Without any protests from you, he placed the fabric over the end of the bed, grabbing your night robes from the chair nearby.

You only watched him work, observing the book he had placed on the bed upon his arrival.

“What’s that?” You wondered aloud, while Aragorn placed your arms through the night tunic.

“A book.” He tried to humor.

“Ha ha.” You stated sarcastically, rolling your eyes.

“I got it from a lady I helped today,” The man began to explain, now working on your belt. “It is supposed to contain the old tales of Gondor. Tales they told the children for bedtime. She gave it to me to read to the future heirs.”

You scoffed at him, knowing neither of you were even thinking about children yet. Not when you still had so much to learn, and both of you were working on rebuilding the entire kingdom.

“I know,” Aragorn agreed softly, now tugging the bottom half of the gown off. “But she insisted I took it with me.”

“Well, you can read it to me.” You mused, grabbing the book as you tried to keep your legs still.

“The Heroes Of Gondor.” You read out loud, smirking at the title. “Not much for humbling, are they?”

“Heroic tales are the tales that inspire children.” The man thought out loud, throwing the remainder of the gown at the end of the bed, before offering you your bottoms.

With an objecting grunt, you sat upright, lazily - and rather clumsily - throwing on the clothing.

Aragorn had already started changing into his own night robes, observing himself in the mirror as he inspected the slightly grey hairs growing in his beard.

“I like it.” You notified. “You look very handsome with some grey hairs.”

He turned around with a smirk, tying the front of his tunic together, before moving to the bed, taking the candle with him.

“Read me a tale?” You asked, giving him the book.

The man nodded in curiosity, putting one arm up, silently urging you to climb under it. Obeying his silent demand, you laid your head against his chest, your arms resting around his waist as he pulled you closer.

Opening the book, he scanned the first few pages, trying to find the first chapter. Flipping through the book a couple of times, he finally stopped, taking a breath.

“Isildur and his brother Anárion; the ones who founded Gondor as the world today knows it,” He started, his voice hushed and low, though loud and clear to you. “They were exiles from the fallen island of Númenor, or Atalantë, a once great kingdom. After the great war against Morgoth, the Valar took pity upon the survivors, and created an island for them. One that Elros would come to rule as the first king.”

Would you not have been as tired as you were, you might have remarked something at the mention of Elrond’s brother, but all your brain wanted you to do, was to get some proper sleep at last. And though you had wanted to hear much more of Aragorn, you could no longer force your eyes open.

So as you kept your ears open to the words flowing out of Aragorn’s mouth, your eyes began to lose their vision, leaving you no choice but to close them.

Snuggling into him once more, you got yourself comfortable, something that did not go unnoticed by Aragorn. But he did not stop his reading, for he knew it soothed you. So, he kept on telling you the story of the founding of Gondor, all while you slowly began to drift off.

And he would continue to read it to you, until he himself could no longer keep up with the letters, which started to dance around in his head.

He fell asleep not much later, the candle still burning as the book laid open upon his chest, a mere inches removed from your face. His head had fallen on top of yours as soft snores escaped his mouth, instead of the peaceful speech of earlier.

He would not wake up until sunlight did, something that for once caused him great joy. For once, he had risen later than the sun, and you had been beside him all night long. And it might have been the reason he kept reading you those tales from that night. Perhaps it was that exact fragment of peace the two of you had so desperately needed. And you had been glad to have finally found it.

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

so i am back on the grima train and i was reading through your posts (absolutely quality, for which i can only thank you !! 💓) and you mentioned in one about his use of magic that you have a Lot of Feelings about grima in relation to gender and plz i need to hear them!! (if you want to share? 👀)

LOTR: Grima & Gender 

Oh man, so Grima and gender. My favourite topic. Other than Grima and magic - but they’re linked! So, that’s a bonus for us.

I want to thank you so much for asking this question. I have wanted to rant about this for Forever.

This became incredibly long, but the long and short of it is that Grima undermines social expectations of masculinity in Rohan through his disdain for martial achievements, his occupying a more private/passive role within the king’s household rather than the expected “masculine” public/active, his use of spells and potions being an “unmanly” and “cowardly” approach to problem solving, and his reliance on language and soft-power approaches to politics.

All of this works to position Grima within a more feminine role and character - at least within the context of Rohan’s hypermasculine performativity of manliness.

[It does allow us to read Grima as trans with greater ease in terms of fitting into the canon than the usual favourites, other than Eowyn. So, you know, do with that what you will. Eowyn and Grima both want to be queen. Let them be in charge! I’m going to get my ass bit for this.]

-

Grima’s gender performance needs to be quickly situated within the broader context of masculinity in Middle-Earth. Gondor’s ideal of masculinity is the gentler masculinity that everyone focuses on when they talk about men in middle earth being good models of what masculinity can look like. It’s a nurturing masculinity, it’s gentle, it’s healing-focused. Aragorn and others try and take the first off-ramp from violence or conflict whenever they can. There is no enjoyment in warfare or soldiering. It’s done because it’s necessary. Dick-swinging is limited to non-existent etc.

Rohan is different.

Faramir touches on this when he speaks to Frodo of how Boromir was more like the men of Rohan and how he thought that wasn’t a good thing as it meant he was seeking glory for glory’s sake, relishing war and soldiering as an occupation rather than an unfortunate necessity.

Of course, Faramir was also making (some very dubious) racial commentary, but race and gender are often bound up together (e.g. hyper-masculinization of black men and the feminization of East Asian men in the North America).

As R.W. Connell says, “masculinities are congurations of practice that are constructed, unfold, and change through time” — and, additionally, masculinity must be defined in opposition to femininity but, also, other masculinities.

For Rohan, there is a strong, militarized hyper-masculinity that threads through their culture. One of the reasons Theoden was seen as a failing king was his physical decline and inability to continue being a physically strong king. His aging emasculated him, more so when compared to Theodred and Eomer. (Something Theoden believed of himself and Grima capitalized on.)

For this, I’m going to speak of masculinity of the upper classes, since that’s what we see for Rohan. Masculinity, and how it’s to be performed, is contingent on social variables such as, but not limited to: age, appearance and size, bodily facility, care, economic class, ethnicity, fatherhood, relations to biological reproduction, leisure, martial and kinship status, occupation, sexuality etc. and as we never see lower class Rohirrim men it’s impossible to say what the “acceptable” and “expected” forms for a farmer or cooper would be.

Upper class men of Rohan are expected to be militarily capable - ready to ride and fight when called by their king or marshal. They are to be men of action over word, and when language is in play, it’s to be forthright and plain. No riddling. Marriage/Husband-ing is an expected part of manhood. Being strong minded, and capable of taking charge and making decisions is important. Fatherhood is also clearly prized, especially fatherhood that results in son(s).

(Theoden only having one child could be read as another “failure” in living up to Rohirrim ideals when compared to the older kings of his family who were far more prolific.)

The appearance of an “ideal” man is tall, fair, and handsome. Physically strong and capable in all ways (martially, sexually, fertile etc.).

Men should be able to demonstrate that they are capable of being in charge, taking control, defending and protecting families and homes. This slots in with more generalized expectations around bravery, honour and glory.

[Eomer: And that, in summation, is how you are to Be A Man.

Grima: Well that sounds utterly exhausting.]

-

So, with all of that in mind, let’s talk Grima.

First, let’s address the name and character construction as this is the least bound up in how he acts and its tension with Rohirrim ideals of Being a Man. It’s also interesting in that it can give a glimpse into Tolkien and the possible thoughts he had when constructing Grima.

Grima’s Name & Beowulf Stuff

Grima’s name is from old Icelandic Grimr, which is a name Odin takes during the Grimnismal saga.

Here are some lines from Odin in the saga:

I have called myself Grim,

I have called myself Wanderer,

Warrior and Helmet-Wearer,

[...]

Evildoer, Spellcaster,

Masked and Shadowed-Face,

Fool and Wise Man,

[...]

Rope-Rider and Hanged-God.

I have never been known

by just one name

since I first walked among men.

Not only is Grima’s name from Odin, more importantly, it’s the feminine version of that name. No man in the eddas or sagas goes by Grima. Only women. And most often they were seidr-workers or healers/magic practitioners of some kind.

"Other healers include Gríma from Fóstbræðra saga and Laxdæla saga and Heiðr from Biarmiland in Harald’s saga Hárfagra." 

- “Hostile Magic in the Icelandic Sagas,” Hilda Ellis-Davidson

And

"There was a man called Kotkel, who had only recently arrived in Iceland. His wife was called Grima. Their sons were Hallbjorn Sleekstone-Eye and Stigandi. These people had come from the Hebrides. They were all extremely skilled in witchcraft and were great sorcerers." 

- Laxdæla saga

This is most likely something Tolkien was aware of — I would be flabbergasted if he wasn’t. However, did he fully appreciate the implications in terms of gender and subversion of masculinity? Impossible to say, of course, but he certainly knew he was giving his male character a name that has only been used by women in historical texts.

It would be akin to naming your male character Henrietta instead of Henry. It’s a deliberate, explicit decision. And while I don’t think Tolkien expected most readers to track down the origin of Grima’s name, the --a ending, to most anglophone readers, signifies a feminine name, more often than not. At least, it rarely, if ever, signifies masculine.

So the name alone brings in, at a subconscious level to readers, feminine qualities.

Alongside this, Grima is loosely based on Unferth from Beowulf. The entrance of Gandalf et al into Meduseld directly mirrors Beowulf’s into Hrothgar’s hall (complete with Grima lounging at Theoden’s feet the same as Unferth at Hrothgar’s). Indeed, it was clearly Tolkien’s intention to make a call back to Beowulf with that scene. (He was being all “look how clever I am. Also these are Anglo-Saxons on horses. As a general fyi”).

Unferth is a fascinating character in his own right ,and there is much scholarly debate around his role within Hrothgar’s hall, as well as the text more broadly. While there isn’t enough time/space to get into Unferth, I will quickly note that he is another character who subverts his society’s ideas of manhood and masculinity — particularly with regards to expectations of heroism and bravery. Yet, at the same time, Unferth is noted for being very intelligent, cunning, good at riddling, and overall quick witted (also, a kin-slayer. Dude murdered his brothers for Reasons).

Unferth’s contrary behaviour that flies in the face of Anglo-Saxon norms and ideals of masculine bravery is clearly reflected in Grima. Particularly in Grima’s fear of battle and lack of interest in taking up his sword when called by his king.

This leaves us with a character who was given a woman’s name and who is loosely based on another character who is known for his inability to follow through on his society’s expectations for masculine behaviour. 

Grima, from the first moment we meet him, clearly reads more feminine than masculine - this is amplified when he’s contrasted with the likes of Theoden and Eomer. And, not only is his aligned with traditional femininity more than other male characters, he is specifically aligned with the more negative tropes of femininity (i.e. lack of bravery, unreliable, dubious morals etc.).

-

That is a brief overview of the bones of Grima’s construction: name and inspiration. Now for actions and characterization within the text. This will be subdivided into comments on his use of magic and how that interfaces with Rohirrim masculinity then we’ll get into power and language.

Grima’s key point of power is his ability to weave words in so powerful a way he could convince Theoden of his own infirmity and weakness thereby securing control over the king. Alongside this, we know that he was using certain “potions and poison” to further weaken Theoden. Most likely to amp up the king’s physical weakness so it coincided with Grima’s mental magic games.

Magic for Anglo-Saxon and early medieval Scandinavians was heavily rooted in the power of the spoken word. Runes were probably used but the historical support of this is vague. Which is to say, we know they were used, we’re just not certain how and to what extent.

We do know that rune staves were a thing. They were most often used to send your landwights after opponents or wreck havoc on enemies from afar. To make one, a magic-worker would carve the prescribed runes onto a large stave and position it in the ground facing the direction of their enemy. On top of the stave was added the head of a horse. (Lots of horse sacrifice happened for early medieval Scandinavians, alongside some human sacrifice.)

But, the brunt of magic for Anglo-Saxons and early medieval Scandinavians was spoken word. Which makes sense as their society was, like Rohan’s, predominantly illiterate or, at least, para-literate (though, there has been some recent archeological evidence that is starting to call that into question, for what that’s worth).

In particular, Grima’s spellwork aligns most closely with seidr, a fact I’ve gone about ad nausea. And, again, something we can assume Tolkien was aware of, which means he was also aware of the gendered implications of a man practicing the craft.

The mainstay of seidrcraft is, but not limited to, the following:

making illusions,

causing madness and/or forgetfulness,

brewing of potions and poisons,

prophesying,

channeling the dead,

channeling gods,

removal of elf-shot, and

recovering lost portions of someone’s soul.

The first three bullets are things Grima does to Theoden. That kind of magic — the kind that fucks with your mind and your sense of self, the kind that is subtle and quiet and lurks beneath the surface so you don’t know it’s happening, that’s cunning — that kind of magic is what women do.

It was considered unmanly/effeminate for a man to partake in it as it undermined the hypermasculine militarized culture of the time. Winning a battle or a fight through spells and poison was cowardly.

Therefore, in Rohan where we have this hypermasculine culture that so prizes military glory and grandeur and martial might, Grima pursuing his goals through spellcraft and potions/poisons is Grima pursuing distinctly unmasculine, effeminate modes of action.

Indeed, within Rohan it could call into question the entirety of his masculinity. It would make him ragr (adj. unmanly) because his actions are the epitome of ergi (noun. unmanliness).

"In the Viking Age, homosexual men were treated with extreme disdain and a complex kind of moral horror, especially those who allowed themselves to be penetrated. Such a man was ragr, not only homosexual by inclination and action, but also inhabiting a state of being that extended to ethical and social qualities. This complex of concepts has been extensively studied, and in the words of its leading scholar, "the unmanly man is everything that a man should not be with regard to morals and character. He is effeminate and he is a coward, and consequently devoid of honour". [...] What we would call sexual orientation was, in the viking age, completely bound up with much wider and deeper codes of behaviour and dignity, extending way beyond physical and emotional preference." -Neil Price, Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings

Though Price references specifically homosexuality in this passage, a man could be considered ragr for more than just that — and one of the other ways was through practicing seidr.

We see this with Odin, who learns how to do seidrcraft from Freyja, and is then mocked by Loki for how emasculating the practice is for Odin to undertake (as if Loki has any room to talk). Odin’s made himself effeminate, he’s made himself unmanly, he’s allowed himself to learn spells that could enable him to take a cowards way out of a situation, to be dishonourable etc.

Which is a neat tie-back to Grima’s name being one of Odin’s names, particularly when he is in disguise and using seidrcraft and wily ways to escape various unfortunate situations that he ends up in during the Grimnismal saga.

(As Odin says: I have been called Evildoer, Spellcaster, Masked and Shadowed-Face, Fool and Wise Man.)

It also mirrors him to Gandalf - another character who bears an Odinnic name. Gandalf very much represents the masculine, “acceptable” aspects of Odin. Grima embodies the darker, more dubious, and more effeminate, aspects of the god. As I’ve said in other posts, they are two sides of the Odin coin.

Though both are temperamental as fuck.

-

Alongside the spellcraft and potions, Grima’s performance of power does not align with Rohirrim traditions and ideals. He relies on his wits and his skill with language to navigate the world. Succinctly captured in the epithet bestowed upon him: Wormtongue. This is the modernization of Wyrmtunga, or, Dragon’s Tongue.

Wyrm can translate to worm, sure, and we see Saruman doing this on purpose when he refers to Grima as a worm, a creature that crawls in the dirt. But Wyrm, of course, is actually a form of dragon. And in Middle Earth, wyrm is used interchangeably with dragon (Smaug is called both wyrm and dragon), rather than denoting a specific species/categorization of dragon as it does in our world.

Grima’s approach to power is that of a gentle touch. He speaks softly, but doesn’t carry a large stick. He’s not Eomer or Theodred, who are much more traditionally martial, aggressive and forthright in their responses to a situation. Grima is clearly all about influencing those around him either through persuasion/use of words, or through spellcraft. He manipulates, he uses linguistic trickery.

-

Additionally, how he undertakes his role as advisor to the king places him more within the private world of Meduseld and the king’s household than the active, public world of marshals and thanes. And, of course, the private world of households was traditionally considered the woman’s domain while men were expected to occupy the public spaces of the world.

Of course, being involved in court politics is a public role as opposed to existing within a wholly private space (such as Eowyn. Who, in the books, takes a mostly private role until she is required to rule in her uncle’s stead while he and Eomer are off at war, and even then it is clearly considered a temporary situation and part of her duty as a woman). But the manner in which Grima occupies that public position is a more “feminine” one.

We can assume that if Eomer or Erkenbrand or Elfhelm occupied the role as advisor to Theoden, they would have a very different approach to the position. A much more aggressive, active and probably military-focused approach. Less carrot, more stick.

A quick note on his appearance in the film, aside from being entirely in black with black hair in a land full of blonds because he needed to be visually distinct as the Bad Guy. He is dressed in longer tunics and robes compared to Eomer and other Rohirrim men (aside from Theoden, but as soon as he is “healed” of his possession(?) he returns to the Proper Masculine shorter tunics than the Weak and Effeminate longer robes and tunics of before). Grima’s hair is longer than Eomer’s and Theoden’s, he wears only a dagger and not a sword, the furs and quilting of his clothes indicate wealth and status, of course, but also decadence and effeminacy.

-

All in all, Grima’s performance and actions undermine and subvert Rohirrim expectations of masculinity. If not outright transgressing gender norms. He uses spellcraft to achieve his ends which is cowardly and effeminate. When it’s not that, he relies on language and manipulation to ensure his position and rarely, if ever, willingly takes on an active, martial role that would be expected of a man who is in the king’s household and serves as an advisor and a quasi-second-in-command.

Here is a man, occupying a man’s role, but doing it like a woman. Subversive! Scandalous! Underappreciated by fandom!

Grima lives in a liminal, marginalized space that is at once gendered and ungendered but is absolutely Othered.

-

As for my note on Grima and being trans - absolutely a trans woman. Grima suffers from that thing of “I want to be you and sleep with you” re: Eowyn. That’s my hot take. (Similar to me and Alan Grant from Jurassic Park - I want to be him and sleep with him.)

But no, in all seriousness, a strong argument can absolutely be made for Grima being not-cis, however that might look for Grima. Grima and Eowyn are the two, within the trilogies, that have the strongest arguments to be made for not being cis.

(Grima is a bit of a foil for Eowyn, I think, while also being a foil for Gandalf.)

[rangers-are-cool-moved]

Almáriel

Will be added when my brain wakes up but here’s the basic info for now

BASIC FULL NAME Almáriel MEANINGS: Quenya name, derived from alma ("riches, good fortune, wealth") NICKNAME(S) Mari GENDER & PRONOUNS Female | She/her AGE Depends on SL DATE OF BIRTH Second Age | 3211 PLACE OF BIRTH Armenelos, Numenor CURRENT RESIDENCE Minas Ithil, Gondor RACE Man | Númenórean ORIENTATION Demi-sexual

PHYSICAL HEIGHT 6ft EYE COLOUR Dark grey HAIR COLOUR + LENGTH Shining gold + waist length HAIR STYLE Prefers it up in a single braid but wavy when down DISTINGUISHING FEATURES Her hair - although some do complain that they get blinded when sunlight hits it DOMINANT HAND Left hand SCAR(S) Hands and arms are dotted with tiny scars that come from years of picking wild herbs and medicinal plants | one scar that is always hidden beneath her tunic after a nightmare gone wrong CLOTHING Mainly greens and greys | tunics and leggings with a plain cloak when out travelling

PERSONALITY MORAL ALIGNMENT Neutral TEMPERAMENT Patient and calm ANGER Appears so rarely that no one actually knows if she does get angry LIKES Hot chocolate, the different seasons, watching the sea, listening to nature, travelling, looking after the younger ones, looking for plants and herbs that only appear at night time DISLIKES Black Númenóreans, Sauron, feeling like she’s being abandoned when a loved one leaves for a while, the sea EXTROVERT OR INTROVERT Mostly extrovert but mention either her parents or her early years and she’ll go silent MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL Night Owl. But due to being a Herbalist, she needs to be awake during the day

BACKGROUND HOMETOWN Andúnië, Numenor LANGUAGE(S) Adûnaic, Sindarin and Quenya PARENTS They were both Mariners, who went to sea when Almáriel was 5 & were never seen again ADOPTED FAMILY A group of children called the Mariners’ Orphans of which Almáriel was the eldest BEST FRIEND Herendil APPRENTICESHIP Healing | After her untrained skill was noted when she helped some injured mariners LOYALTIES Mariners’ Orphans, Amandil - the last Lord of Andúnië, Elendil, Isildur and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, for which she was a healer. RAISED BY Mainly herself due to being an orphan

MISC ANIMAL COMPANION is often seen with a wild hound CRAFT Artist | Painting, drawing and sketching HOBBIES Watching the dawn & sunset from the highest point, swimming, reading, practicing her fighting with the guards and soldiers ELEMENT Water MAIN WEAPONS Daggers SECONDARY A sword that once belonged to her father RANDOM FACTS Almáriel taught herself to fight so she could remain safe while looking for herbs | Has a love-hate relationship with the sea. She loves it as she comes from a Mariner family yet it has taken so many of her loved away, including her best friend and parents.

[faustandfurious]

aragorn?

Sexuality headcanon: Straight (gasp!) Aragorn has the kind of energy that makes every man around him (Boromir, Faramir, Eomer) question his sexuality, but the guy himself is so singlemindedly in love with Arwen that there's just nobody else. Does her elven heritage technically make him a monsterfucker? Yes and what about it? Besides, LotR needs a token (Tolkien?) straight dude

Gender headcanon: Man, but will definitely at some point have worn a dress just to mess with the Rivendell elves' notions of human gender

Ship: Arwen

BROTP: The entire Fellowship, but especially Boromir. Also Eowyn and Eomer, and Bilbo Baggins.

NOTP: Eowyn in a romantic relationship. I think the relative difference in age and experience is a bit too much

Random headcanon: After the War of the Ring he met up with some old friends in Gondor, that he had met during his earlier travels there

General opinion: The movies didn't do justice to his general weirdness level in the books. A+ gremlin man

[arofili]

Line of Elros Edit Series: Appendix B

Continued from Appendix A. This section will contain information on the House of Andúnië and the Royalty of Arnor.

~~~

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Appendix A: Royalty of Númenor Appendix B: House of Andúnië, Royalty of Arnor (you are here!) Appendix C: Royalty of Gondor Appendix D: Princes of Dol Amroth, Chieftains of the Dúnedain Appendix E: Stewards of Gondor

~~~

HOUSE OF ANDÚNIË

Silmariën ft. Silmariën, Elatan, Valandil of Andúnië It is canonical that Silmariën was passed over for inheritance, that she received the Ring of Barahir, and that she had a mithril fillet (a kind of medieval headband); the story of her making the fillet herself with the aid of her cousin is an embellishment. Technically it was not Silmariën or Elatan who first led the House of Andúnië, but their son Valandil, but I altered the story to give it more feminist themes. The details of Elatan’s life are all headcanon.

Valandil of Andúnië ft. Valandil of Andúnië, Vairanatsë (OC), Ulmondil (OC) Save for the names and professions of his wife and son, Valandil’s story is canonical.

Ulmondil ft. Ulmondil (OC), Hyamindë (OC), Elvëanna (OC), Tintilárë (OC), Lilómëo (OC), Malwacilin (OC), Irmondil (OC), Lelyárë (OC), Moruinë (OC), Ortólorë (OC) Here we get to the long stretch of “unnamed lords.” Since we know nothing about these people or their spouses, I’ve had some fun with gender and sexuality here. Literally everything here is headcanon (except that Tar-Minastir did canonically build a tower on Oromet).

Vóreäla ft. Vóreäla (OC), Tyulussë (OC), Vilwarindo (OC), Rómandur (OC), Roquendië (OC), Vasaryamarto (OC), Failaher (OC), Pirucendëa (OC), Canyahondë (OC), Elwenára (OC), Ilcarion (OC), Morilindië (OC) All details about my OCs are pure headcanon. Check Appendix A for information on whether the details about the kings they interact with are canon or not. ETA 3/31/21: Fixed some minor timeline discrepancies.

Vóromir ft. Vóromir (OC), Arphazêl (OC), Aulendur (OC), Istimiel (OC), Lindórië, Eärendur of Andúnië Gimilzagar (and thus his hypothetical child) is canonically possibly the ancestor of Inzilbêth; I decided to go with that, and wrote a narrative around how the daughter of one of the King’s Men married into the House of Andúnië. Lindórië and Eärendur are both canon characters who are indeed siblings. Everything else is headcanon.

Lindórië ft. Lindórië, Tulcatio (OC), Inzilbêth, Eärendur of Andúnië, Aranyo (OC), Minasdil (OC) The politics of Andúnië and Gimilzôr are all headcanon, though it is canon that Gimilzôr married Inzilbêth. That’s pretty much the only canon part of this story, though. Eärendur is canonically the fifteenth Lord of Andúnië; I changed it so Lindórië was the leader instead. The Adûnaic versions of Lindórië and Eärendur’s names are my own translations, as is Inzilbêth’s Quenya name. ETA 3/31/21: Made some fairly significant changes in order to reconcile some timeline errors, though the core story remains.

Minasdil ft. Minasdil (OC), Tiristiel (OC), Númendil, Vailimion (OC), Narwalótë (OC) Everything here is headcanon, except that the Faithful did indeed move to Rómenna around this time. The leader of Andúnië between Eärendur and Númendil is unnamed, so I made them nonbinary because I could. Númendil is not mentioned to have any siblings, but I gave him some because I felt like it. ETA 3/31/21: Completely rewrote the last paragraph to reconcile it with the canon timeline. Apparently I originally had Minasdil getting married around the time that their grandson Elendil was supposed to be born!! ...except that doesn’t make sense at all either, so I changed things so it’s Amandil being born at that time. Still - I had Minasdil marrying too late, and that’s fixed now.

Númendil ft. Númendil, Lómiel (OC), Amandil, Elenyë (OC), Elentír, Elendil Númendil was canonically a friend of Tar-Palantír, and Amandil was canonically a friend of Ar-Pharazôn. For the canonicity of Pharazôn’s life details, see Appendix A. We know nothing about the wives of Númendil or Amandil; I made that all up. Elentír is a discarded character from drafts of the Akallabêth; he and Míriel were to be wed before Míriel fell in love with Pharazôn. I kept the published Silm version where Míriel married Pharazôn against her will, but I liked the detail of her having a boyfriend before him, so I kept it. (I definitely queercoded her though, she wasn’t in love with Elentír either in my mind...) Amandil’s fate and final journey west are canon, though Elentír didn’t stick around in Tolkien’s writings long enough for him to get an ending. I had him tag along with his brother. The Adûnaic names of Númendil and Elentír are my own translation; the Adûnaic names of Amandil and Elendil are both canon.

Elendil ft. Elendil, Lauriel (OC), Isildur, Anárion Everything about Elendil’s wife is headcanon. The story of Isildur stealing the fruit is canon, but has been embellished a bit for dramatic effect. The rest of this is canon, with a few minor details added here and there. Elendil’s Adûnaic name is canon; Isildur and Anárion’s Adûnaic names are my own translation.

~~~

ROYALTY OF ARNOR

Isildur ft. Isildur, Cemniel (OC), Elendur, Aratan, Círyon, Valandil of Arnor Almost everything here is canon, though Isildur overhearing his father about the White Tree is an embellishment, and we don’t know the exact reason there was such a long gap between the birth of Elendur and his next two sons. My guess is he knocked up his wife before they were married, and then didn’t want to have kids in the dangerous times of Númenor...though that didn’t stop them from having a son in the dangerous times of the Last Alliance.

Valandil of Arnor ft. Valandil of Arnor, Ahyarë (OC), Eldacar of Arnor, Culalmë (OC), Arantar, Vistariel (OC), Tarcil, Niëlinyë (OC), Tarondor of Arnor, Lossëa (OC), Valandur, Tasarwen (OC), Elendur of Arnor, Luinaivë (OC) Aside from the timing of Valandil’s inheritance, all of this is headcanon.

Eärendur of Arnor ft. Eärendur of Arnor, Quildaraumë (OC), Amlaith of Arthedain, Adanamarth of Cardolan (OC), Anorhír of Rhudaur (OC) The basic details of Arnor’s split into three kingdoms is canon, but everything else is headcanon, including the names of Amlaith’s brothers.

Amlaith ft. Amlaith, Linnoril (OC), Beleg of Arthedain, Ferieth (OC), Mallor, Cidinnor (OC), Celepharn, Glasdil (OC), Celebrindor, Sídhiel (OC), Malvegil, Hwinior (OC) Amlaith did indeed move the capital from Annúminas to Fornost, and his kingdom of Arthedain had border disputes with Cardolan and Rhudaur for as long as they all stood. Angmar canonically began to move against disunified Arnor during Malvegil’s reign. All other details are headcanon.

Argeleb I ft. Argeleb I, Edlenniel (OC), Arveleg I, Eithruin (OC), Araphor, Elweth (OC), Argeleb II, Lithuies (OC), Arvegil, Calaear (OC), Arveleg II, Tavoriel (OC), Araval, Halloth (OC) Save for his wife being a princess of Cardolan and that being the reason the people of Cardolan accepted his rule, Argeleb I’s story is canon. The story of Arveleg I’s brother being the last prince of Cardolan is entirely made up (even that he had a brother), though it is true that the last prince of Cardolan died in battle alongside Arveleg I. Araphor’s story is canon, save for the details about his OC wife. Argeleb II’s story is mostly canon, though I made up the bit about two of his children dying in the Great Plague. There is also an inconsistency around here: earlier the “last” prince of Cardolan died beside Arveleg I, but apparently the “last” prince of Cardolan died in the Plague? I picked the story I liked better and just emphasized Cardolan’s desolation in this time period. Arveleg II’s story is canon with a bit of embellishment. Araval’s story is canon, but everything with his spouse is made up (though the barrow-wights did scare the Dúnedain back to Arthedain in canon).

The Last Prince of Cardolan ft. Mallor (OC; the Last Prince of Cardolan), Gwileth (OC; the Lady of the Blue Brooch) I made this edit for OC week, and it wasn’t really intended to be a late addition to this series, but since I didn’t get to do much with Mallor in the edit featuring his brother I was happy to expand on him, and even more excited when I realized that I could tie in the Lady of the Blue Brooch to this story as well! The Last Prince of Cardolan is a real (unnamed) figure mentioned in the Legendarium; the Lady of the Blue Brooch was mentioned only by Tom Bombadil as someone “fair...long ago [who] wore this on her shoulder” when he took it for Goldberry to wear. We don’t know for sure how the prince knew the lady, but come on, that’s just a story begging to be told! The tie-in with Merry’s sword is a slight liberty from canon: we don’t know who the dagger originally belonged to, but given that Merry quiet possibly dreamed of the prince’s final moments, I think it would be poetic for his sword to be the one who helped to kill the Witch-king in the end. Overall, there’s a LOT of headcanon here that I had fun developing from the scraps Tolkien gave us in canon! Also, I didn’t mention it in the main post, but Mallor’s name means “golden,” and Gwileth’s is a contraction of “gwilwileth,” the Sindarin word for “butterfly.” Since Arveleg is a name taken from Ar+Beleg (meaning he was named for his ancestor King Beleg of Arthedain), I thought it would make sense for Arveleg’s brother to be named for King Beleg’s son, King Mallor. Gwileth’s brooch is described in canon as being “set with blue stones, many-shaded like flax-flowers or the wings of blue butterflies,” so I leaned on that for inspiration when it came to her name.

Araphant ft. Araphant, Laerdil (OC), Arvedui, Fíriel This is mostly canon with some embellishments, such as Laerdil orchestrating Arvedui and Fíriel’s marriage. ETA 3/20/21: Tweaked this caption because of an inaccuracy I noticed.

~~~

CONTINUED IN APPENDIX C

[storyweaverofgondor]

Get to know me better:

rules - tag 10 people you want to know better

tagged by @uppastthejelliclemoon @afairytalestray and @theguywhoreallylikescats :D

1. Name: Amethyst Crystal Ocean Schwarz - I go by Ocean and oddly enough my parents weren’t hippies at the time! ;)

2. gender: female

3. star sign: Capricorn

4. height:  5′10-5′11″ - I am very tall

5. sexuality: Fictospec (Ficto-attracted) ace.

6. favorite book: How long have you got? ;)

7. current time: 2:06

8. average amount of sleep: 8+

9. dogs or cats: Both! GIVE ME ALL THE FUR BABIES!! :)

10. # of blankets I sleep with: 2-3

11. dream job: author.

12. blog established: December 2019

13. favorite animal: All of Them!!

14. # of followers: 172 :o I am touched but also in shock tbh!

15. reason for url: StoryWeaver was taken and “Of Gondor” just came to me. so i guess the answer is FATE! :)

16. something I’m grateful for: my mom. she is the best person i know and quite honestly my rock!

Tag time!!! :D

@terpsichorian @dramatical-cat @skimbleskank @sillybubs @magical-marvelous-mistoffelees @the-cat-at-the-theatre-door @munkustrap-game @and-magical-cats @datblacknwhitekitten and anyone else who wants to! :D

[arcadialedger]

Representation in Lord of the Rings, and what Tolkien means to me

When it comes to representation, the works of Tolkien are not what come to mind. And validly so— the Fellowship is made up of entirely white men.

However, I have found that Tolkien is incredibly important in terms of representation to me. And that’s representation for us short and little people.

I’m 4’10, and very self conscious about it. And I cannot tell you how much I love— how powerful it is— to see the hobbits and dwarves, to see the people who are like me— be the heroes in this story.

And when the hobbits arrive at Aragorn’s coronation, and bow down to their king

And Aragorn looks them in the eye and says

“My friends, you bow to no one”

I ball up and sob every time. I know this is a classic Lord of the Rings cry moment, but it holds some more weight for me.

I have been looked down upon my entire life both literally and figuratively, seen as a child, and even told to kill myself due to my short stature. I don’t think a lot of people can understand the complexities and struggles which can (CAN— this doesn’t allly to all— and I am well aware y’all people face just as many different struggles) come with being a short person. Feeling small because you are LITERALLY SMALL can give you a serious inferiority complex.

And seeing this— seeing Aragorn and the people of Gondor respect and bow down to the smallest of them all— will never not make my heart swell. Because they did it. The smallest of people, the seemingly insignificant hobbits, took the ring to Mordor and destroyed Sauron. And it is so powerful to see the small shine. See them be brave and heroic and capable and be rewarded for those qualities.

So no, while LoTR is not diverse in terms of race, gender, sexuality, etc., it does shine in other ways. I’m not a aying it’s as important as representation for the previously mentioned groups (which have faced discrimination and at times oppression in society historically), but I encourage all to think about the box and try and see how different things can be meaningful to different people.

Because the heroes of LoTR? They give a hand to us short, little people. They help me feel like I am capable, like I can do incredible things and be a hero too.

They’ve helped me realize that I am more than what society sees when they look down upon me, as that I can rise above their expectations.

And this is from someone who just happens to be remarkably short! I can’t imagine how powerful this story is for those with actual medical conditions such a dwarfism or Down syndrome.

[ao3feed-samfro]

The Samfro Mpreg fic

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/ZkUdRoc by probablynotJohn "Keep it secret. Keep it safe." Those were the last words Gandalf said before he left the night of Bilbo's party. But that was 17 years ago, life moves on. Sam and Frodo had already been married for over two years when Gandalf shows up again. And they had been trying to have children for about five months.   This is my retelling of LOTR using both the books and movies. I needed to find a way to let Frodo be happy on the Shire with Sam after the quest. The Obvious solution was to make him pregnant. by the time of the quest they have already been married for two years, and have been dating for seven years before that. Words: 3767, Chapters: 1/11, Language: English Fandoms: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (Movies) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: F/M, M/M Characters: Sam Gamgee, Frodo Baggins, Merry Brandybuck, Pippin Took, Gandalf (Tolkien), Aragorn (Tolkien), Legolas Greenleaf, Boromir | 11th Steward of Gondor (Tolkien), Gimli (Tolkien), The Fellowship of the Ring, Gollum | Sméagol (Tolkien), Faramir (Tolkien), Arwen Undómiel Relationships: Frodo Baggins/Sam Gamgee Additional Tags: Pre-Quest, Mid-Canon, Post-Quest, Established Relationship, Mpreg, Pregnancy, Hurt/Comfort, Healthy Relationships, Communication, Huddling For Warmth, Disabling Injuries, Fighting Like An Old Married Couple, Intersex Character, Discussions of gender and sexuality read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/ZkUdRoc

[voices-ringing-out]

CHARACTER PROFILE: Aragorn II Elessar

NAME: Aragorn II Elessar Telcontar, alias Strider

AGE: 87

GENDER: Cis male.

SEXUALITY: He loves everyone, regardless of gender, in whatever ways you can love a person.

ALIGNMENT: Neutral good, I believe. His intentions are always good and for the betterment of others, but he is not against breaking rules if he needs to.

FAMILY: He has a lot of family. Like... a lot.

LIKES: Elvish culture, kindness, wine, watching the sun rise or set, spending time in the wilderness, horses, learning about new things, poetry, painting, all things to do with music, venison.

DISLIKES: Corruption, greed, things more complicated than they need to be, Uruk-Hai, people who kill animals or other living beings for no reason or worse, for pleasure, not being able to understand something.

STORY: I’m surprised that anyone might not know this story, but here we go! Aragorn is a member of the Dunedain of the North who ends up becoming part of the Fellowship that is to take a ring infused with great power to Mount Doom to destroy it. He serves as a protector of Frodo, the holder of the Ring, and to the rest of the Hobbits that decided to follow him. Along the treacherous journey, he grows closer to those he travels with, and pines after his Elvish lover, Arwen. The Fellowship is separated, with Frodo and Samwise Baggins continuing toward Mount Doom, while Aragorn goes with Gimli and Legolas to hunt down the other two Hobbits, kidnapped by Orcs. In the end, after much war and trials, the Fellowship reunites - those that are still alive and well - and Aragorn, now King of Gondor, blesses the Hobbits before sending them home again.

BACKGROUND: Aragorn’s father, Arathorn, was killed when he was young, and his mother had him sent away to be fostered by Elrond of Rivendell, his lineage hidden from him and kept secret amongst the Elves, his name changed to Estel and the truth not told until he became of age. During this time, while he learnt about his past and trained with Elrond, he slowly fell deeper and deeper in love with Arwen, Elrond’s biological daughter. Eventually, once he was old enough and held the skills he needed, Aragorn left to be chieftain of the Dunedain, as was his proper role, befriending Gandalf the Grey along the way and - upon the wizard’s request - protecting a small area of Middle Earth known as the Shire, for reasons that would someday become apparent.

[idriltelcontar]

OC Interview Tag

Rules: Pick a character from your WIP, and have them answer these 15 questions, then tag 15 people!

I was tagged by the amazing @dove-actually (yours was so funny btw!) I was halfway through doing one for my WIP Crimson Daughters when I got this but I’d love to do one for one of my LotR OCs as well. Thanks for the tag!

Allow me to introduce you one of the only two original MCs in my Lord of the Rings fan fic ‘In Shadows’ .... Neniel!

 1: What is your full name?

 I am Princess Neniel Galadhwen, daughter of Legolas and Nenwen. Most people just call me Neniel. I’ve never been one for formality and titles!

2: What does your full name mean?

Neniel is Sindarin for ‘daughter of water/lake’ and is a reference to my heritage as a Water Elf through my mother, Nenwen. Galadhwen is Sindarin for ‘lady of the woods/trees’ and is a reference to my father Legolas, a Wood Elf. I love my names, and they reflect how proud I am of my cultural background.

3: What are your other names/nicknames?

I was often called Sídhiel when I was born, which means ‘Child of Peace’ in Sindarin. My parent’s marriage was the first union between Water Elves and Wood Elves and the two kingdoms had been estranged from each other for centuries. I guess everyone thought I was going to be the great unifier or something, but I’m not that interested in diplomacy. My SO calls me Lalaith, which means Laughter, because that is what I love doing the most. I’ve also been called the Lady of Mirkwood, Lady Neniel and Nenuial (after the lake of the same name). 

Wow, that’s a lot of names. But I’m an Elf. This is pretty much normal for us.

4: What’s your gender?

I am female.

5: What’s your sexuality?

My what? Hmm ... never thought about it before. Romance has never been high on my priorities. After all, I’m still considered a young elf. There IS however a certain young man I’ve had my eye on lately ...

6: Where are you from?

I’m from Mirkwood and live in the halls of my grandfather, Thranduil. But because of my mother I often spend a lot of time travelling between Mirkwood and my other grandfather’s kingdom by the Sea of Rhun. I love both, and feel equally at home in either place.

7: How old are you?

I am twenty four, which is still very young for an elf and I’m constantly treated as a child who needs to be protected. They say I’m naive. I don’t see it myself.

8: What is your magic form/what species are you?

I am an Elf, partly of Sindar and Avari heritage. 

9: What does your human form look like?

Human form? I think you mean Elf form. Like most of my mother’s kin I am very short, about the same as a human woman of average height, which makes me stand out among the tall Elves of my father’s people. I’m physically small and look younger than my years. I have long dark hair, pale skin and silver eyes.

10: What’s your aesthetic?

Water. Blues, silvers and greens. Long flowing robes, pretty silks, bare arms, soft shades, sparkles. Gently lapping stream. Green leaves softly shimmering in the sun.

11: Who’s your best friend?

I’ve always been fairly solitary. My only real friend (but more like a brother) is Faervel. He is a member of my grandfather’s guard and was assigned to be my protector at birth. He’s the only other young elf in Mirkwood (he’s only 187) and we bonded straight away. He accompanies me on my travels between Mirkwood and Rhun. Faervel puts on a serious face all the time, but I can make him laugh more than anyone else can (that is, until a certain young man from Rohan shows up). We love to sing together and tell stories.

12: Would you ever get a piercing/ tattoo?

If it looked pretty! Don’t think my grandfathers would approve though. But I’m not the sort of person who would think things like this through before doing them.

13: When are you happiest?

In my mother’s secret pool outside the palace in Mirkwood. She hated being under trees all the time and wanted a place to connect with water. When I stand underneath the waterfall and feel the power and the energy within the water I feel bright and alive, like I’m part of the lifeblood of the world. I love it there, which is why I took a certain special someone there ...

14: What’s your biggest secret?

I’m very open and tend not to have secrets. But ... I guess it would be how upset I am over the strife between my two families. I never wanted to be caught in the middle. I just wanted to be left alone. I hide just how much it troubles me. I don’t like to show my demons. I hide it behind laughter and silliness.

Although ... I did have one pretty huge secret involving a young prince of Gondor. 

15: What was your first impression of Eldarion?

*smiles and stares into the distance for several minutes*

Eldarion? Well, he’s reckless, arrogant, often bad-tempered and petty ... but I saw the softer side straight away. The side which is like me: trying to live up to someone else’s expectations. I didn’t believe he could be real when I first met him. That’s why I call him Olon ... dream.

That was fun! Not sure if any of you have been tagged before but feel free to do it again/ignore it if you want! @edelweissroses (one of the OCs in GMDS?? I loved them!) @the-real-rg, @theswordofpens,  @farrradays, @blueinkblot, @ownworldresident  @mlgwrites and  anyone else who wants to do it! My mind is completely blank at the moment

Will post my half complete one for Crimson Daughters soon!