#lotr rambling

[rosefires20]

My brainrot today is thinking about just how incredible for a character Eowyn is.

Genuinely. The series might not have many female characters but the ones we do get go so fucking hard.

To me, Eowyn is literally the definition of defining being a woman for oneself. She rejects the roles she is given despite acknlowdging the importance and its mostly because she knows part of the reason is that she is a woman.

The reason why she is obsessed with Aragorn isn't because she loves him but because she wants what he has. She wants the freedom and courage and bravery that Aragorn has at every turn. She literally has multiple conversations during the Two Towers about how what she fears most is a cage. All this girl wants is the freedom to be and not be forced into a role. The best thing is that she literally gets that.

The segment of Return of the King about Eowyn and Faramir is literally about her piecing together what she truly wants. She doesn't want Aragorn. She wants freedom and the ability to choose. Faramir does nothing but encourage that in her. Their love story is literally one of the healthiest love stories I've seen in a long time because at the heart of it, their love is a place to return home to for both parties. Both go off to lead and help their people for a considerable amount of time before returning to each other but that does not diminish their bond. Even Faramir, I believe, falls in love with her bravery and dedication to her loved ones. The reason she went to Pelenor Fields and Gondor with the troops of Rohan was because she had things she wanted to fight for. She wanted to fight for herself, her people, and her loved ones. She is the one who protects Theoden after he is killed so that his body gets the treatment it deserves. She encourages Merry and helps him go to the battle because she sees her struggle in Merry. They feel helpless standing around when there are things to be doing.

Let's also not forget the fact that she was around Grima Wormtounge just as much as the King was. She was exposed to the same poison and awful words that eroded the king. It's even implied that her care for him is part of the reason why Theoden was savable when Gandalf showed up. She had the same power and bravery as everyone else even if she didn't see it in herself.

Then at the end of the day, SHE decides where she wants to go and what path she wants to walk. She walked the path of a warrior. The path of a princess/ruler. The path of a caretaker. But in the end she decides which elements truly mean something to her outside of gender definitions. That is what makes her character so incredible to me. In this she literally kills one of the biggest enemies in that battle with such a badass line.

[klngfili]

lord of the rings bigatures my beloved

[camille-lachenille]

Imagine just how popular the members of the Fellowship would be in Gondor and Rohan after the War of the Ring. They’re the heroes who saved the world, and the common folks look up at them in awe.

A few years after the end of the war, Legolas is visiting Minas Tirith when he hears a woman call his name. He turns around, surprised, only to see this stranger calling after a toddler running away from her. “Legolas, come back to mama!” she calls, over and over. There’s a baby on her hip who start crying, and she gently shushes her little Pippin. Legolas walks away, feeling wistful and wondering.

In Rohan, Éomer hears one of his men proudly announce the birth of his first child, a little boy named Merry; he smiles and congratulates the young father, making a mental note to write to Merry Brandybuck.

Gimli becomes a very popular name for little girls in Gondor, and this sends Aragorn and Legolas into hysterical fits of laughter. Gimli is unbearably proud of this fact.

Samwise and Frodo, too, become popular children names, no matter the gender, and especially amongst lower class folks. When Sam hears of the news, he turns red and sputtering.

Two decades or so after the war, Faramir almost has a heart attack when one of the new recruits of the guard of Ithilien almost sheepishly introduces himself as Boromir.

[la-pheacienne]

I'm reading the lord of the rings and I'm once again amazed at how... good most characters are. Like, they are genuinely good people. They are a bunch of kindhearted, gracious, caring people, coming together under adverse circumstances and trying to figure things out and find a solution and support each other through it all. Like Frodo and Sam meet Faramir and Faramir is a bit suspicious at first and kind of implies Frodo may be a spy, and then when he hears his story and he's like Frodo, I pressed you so hard at first. Forgive me! It was unwise in such an hour and place. And this blows.my.mind. He wasn't even particularly mean or threatening to him in the beginning, he's just such a kind, considerate man, recognizing the kindness and honesty of another man. And they're all like that. Even Gollum starts slowly changing (for a short while) when he encounters Frodo because that's the thing about kindness and humility and grace, they are contagious. They transform people, even a creature like Gollum cannot be immune to that. Like, you may consider all this simple and basic and I get it but, hear me out. It is quite rare to see that in modern media and it is also pretty difficult to pull off in a way that is not corny and simplistic. It is mind blowing that you actually don't have to present the entire palette of human cruelty and vice in order to tell a compelling story, contrary to popular belief. Lotr does the exact opposite, and it is just beautiful and it warms my heart. Especially taking into consideration tolkien's pretty grim growing-up experience, him being a double orphan without a home, raised between an orphanage and a priest and having no family apart from his brother and then the war and then he almost dies and then he's poor as hell and then a second war and it all makes sense somehow. He writes to his wife who is also an orphan two days before the marriage "the next few years will bring us joy and content and love and sweetness such as could not be if we hadn't first been two homeless children and had found one another after long waiting" and, yes, yes! The love and sweetness just radiate from his work, the entire lotr series is a little radiant bubble of hope and love and grace that he imagined in his head to deal with a dismal reality and then he just gave that to the world, and isn't that what imagination and art is all about after all?

[marchioness-of-the-flowers]

One thing I love about the Silmarillion is that because it’s so massive, its fans have to specialize.

Like I love everything but my Silm major is in Finrod studies, with a minor in obscure background characters.

Reblog this post with your Silmarillion “speciality,”

[starboymp3]

the lotr trilogy are the best movies on earth but one thing i’ll never forgive them is the complete lack of aragorn and éomer friendship. i know i already made a post abt it but i honestly cannot believe these two talked One time in the movies while in the books they became literal besties. what do you mean they promised they’ll fight together, draw swords together, upon literally their first meeting, then repeated the same promise later again and again. what do you mean “Since the day when you rose before me out of the green grass of the downs I have loved you, and that love shall not fail.” what do you mean “And wherever King Elessar went with war King Éomer went with him; and beyond the Sea of Rhûn and on the far fields of the South the thunder of the cavalry of the Mark was heard, and the White Horse upon Green flew in many winds until Éomer grew old.” LIKE HELLO?????

[iminye]

Sometimes i remember that Círdan is just really fucking ancient and am like actually kinda shocked... like this man has seen almost all of Middle Earth's history, from the shores of Cuiviénen to the second War of the Ring and survived. The only other named elves I can think of right now, who have lived for just as long are Ingwë, Indis and Olwë, but they never returned from Aman. Círdan meanwhile? He just stuck around never having gone to paradise and lived. What a badass. I love him.

[youareunbearable]

Tried to explain my love for Maedhros to my dnd group and they just didn't get it :/ its pretty clear that he is a Poor Little Meow Meow

[regionalpancake]

Which raises the question:WHO would La Sirena’s crew be in the fellowship?

Gandalf - you’d think I’d say Picard, right? NO. JL does not nearly spend enough time pouring through books and scrolls in search of long lost knowledge, that is a job for Raffi! Great researcher, loves some convoluted lore, and partial to a horgl full of pipeweed.

Frodo - Soji, bearer of the terrible secret. Needs to Go To The Plot Related Place.

Sam - Rios, HEART OF GOLD 😭 also key in getting the bearer of the terrible secret to the plot related place.

Merry & Pippin - Agnes and Enoch, we were robbed of this duo, so I’m putting it into this daydream.

Aragorn - Seven. LOOK. You want a roguish yet infamous hero? Someone who goes by many different names? Someone not quite human? (The thought of Seven in a cape, in the firelight shadows of the Prancing Pony may will end me)

Legolas - Elnor. No one’s arguing with this, Elnor’s position as Space Legolas is undisputed.

Gimli - you’d think THIS ONE would be Picard, since I’m running out of characters, but 🤷 I care about Picard the least and he’d make a terrible Gimli. You know who is stubborn and loyal, and would make a great Gimli? Zhaban. Imagine him and Elnor in battle together!

“Never thought I’d die fighting side by side with a Qowat Milat.”

“How about side by side with a friend?”

(I need this now.)

And of course…

Boromir - Hugh💀 (too soon? 😅 but if you REALLY want some angst, then please imagine Seven holding Hugh by the riverbank while he mumbles “I would have followed you…” I’M NOT OK ABOUT THIS)

and Picard can be Denethor I guess 🤷

[imaybeabear]

If you'll excuse me a moment, I have to go cry at the way Aragorn takes a moment in the preparation of a battle to comfort a child who is facing down terror and death and the way he holds his shoulder like he does to his friends and looks him in the eye and says so softly but so firmly "there is always hope"

[queerofthedagger]

if i had a nickle for every time a pair in the middle earth legendarium defied a dark lord, saved each other by song, lost a limb, and got rescued by the eagles, i would have three nickles which isn't a lot but it's funny that two of the most queer-coded relationships get paralleled to tolkien's 'ultimate ideal of a romance' couple like this twice it happened thrice

[rosefires20]

The one thing that gets me about the Lord of the Rings movies is how much they fail Faramir's character but manage to really show Boromir's specifically in the extended cuts.

Faramir gets so little time in the movies compared to how much he gets in the books. He is genuinely such a good character in the books and I adore him so much. He has one of the best lines in the series as well that really captures some of the larger themes of the peace.

"I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend." - Faramir in The Two Towers

He is genuinely such a kind man, and in the books, you see that through his actions but also the actions and words of everyone around him. In the books, you get Beregond and Pippin's interactions and conversations where Beregond talks about how much he admires and loves Faramir as his captain and how much he trusts him. Beregond's love and dedication is part of the reason why Denethor's plan to burn him and Faramir alive gets delayed long enough for Pippin to go and get Gandalf and return with enough time to save Faramir at least.

The movie fails so hard because they have Faramir and his group take Frodo and Sam forcefully to Osgiliath and he has a moment with the ring. In the books, before even knowing for sure that Frodo had the ring, he said he would not take it. When it is revealed, he completely denies it and aids Frodo with food and shelter for a bit. The scene of him rejecting the ring especially with the knowledge that it got to his dearly beloved brother is so good and so core to Faramir's character which drives me nuts with how it went down in the movies.

In the books, you also get most of a chapter dedicated to Eowyn and Faramir and their healing journey. There, you also get to see how kind and loving Faramir is as a person with how he respects and interacts with Eowyn. Just god. He's such a good example of the series's gentle masculinity. He parallels Aragorn a lot in it especially since Aragorn is the one who is meant to be king while Faramir had the hearts of the people.

[klngfili]

[armenelols]

In deference to my recent bout of shitposting, have a daily reminder that Tolkien's half-elves have no happy ending and no matter what they choose, they'll still lose part of their family forever. They'll always be split between two people, neither fully one or the other, yet forced to pick one and lose the other

[vaile-elenya]

He's one of us 🖤

[trees-of-valinor]

"He was as noble and fair as an elf-lord, as strong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves, and as kind as summer."

is such an amazing character description. All of it lends to the image of a being who is very stately and aged, but "kind as summer" in particular is incredibly evocative. Even if you generally dislike summer (like me), you can't help but know what it means.

It just conjures up the image and feeling of the softest most beautiful day, golden sunlight, flowers and meadows. Just life. And there is strength in summer. The heat of the sun, and summer is all about vitality and growth.

That short phrase says so much and shows Elrond's character so well. After everything he's been through, he still has so much life and strength.

He manages to show so much softness and kindness to people who come to him and his home for help, and is a person of healing, and the fact that he is able to be so and to remain so kind is his strength.