#tolkien elf kin

[ithil-the-elf]

Hello, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Ithil, I am elfkin. Specifically, my kintype is from Tolkien’s works.

I consider myself only to be elfkin despite my heritage. My father was the maiar known as Ossë and my mother a sindarian elf.

I had odd shapeshifting abilities due to being the son of Ossë that allowed me to dawn gull wings at will and a fish tail when swimming in the cool rivers. Due to this, I also have a strong pull towards being merkin.

I will be blogging and reblogging all things related to elfkin, faekin and merkin. Pls reblog if you also share such content.

[dunadaan]

The curse of trying to make dúnedain men is trying to make “tall, dark haired, grey eyed” look uniquely different without being mistaken for each other

[a-little-hobbit-hole]

Had to take a photo in Enedwaith ☺️

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

Galadriel in Season 1-2 of “Rings of Power”: Valiant, Prideful and the Darkness Within

Galadriel was born during the Years of the Trees, on Valinor, the only daughter of High King of the Noldor, Finarfin, sister to three brothers. She was named “Artanis” by her father, and “Galadriel” (Sindarin for “Maiden crowned with gleaming hair”) is the name she took after marrying prince Celebron, in Doriath (Middle-earth).

In her youth, Galadriel was known for her proud, strong and self-willed temperament, and for the unmatched beauty of her hair. She had the golden hair of her kin, but hers was particularly striking, shot with silver, and beautiful. And so much so that Fëanor was inspired by how the light of the Two Trees of Valinor caught her hair to craft the Silmarils. Three times he asked her for a few strands of it, and three times Galadriel refuse him. Galadriel couldn’t stand Fëanor and saw the growing darkness in him; most likely because it was the same as within herself.

Tolkien describes Galadriel as “of Amazon disposition”, “strong of body, mind and will, a match for both the loremasters and the athletes of the Eldar in the days of their youth”, and she would “bound up her hair as a crown when taking part in athletic feats”. Her mother called her Nerwen, “man-maiden”.

Departure from Valinor

Galadriel is adventurous, ambitious “and like her brother Finrod, of all her kindred the nearest to her in heart, she had dreams of far lands and dominions that might be her own to order as she would without tutelage [from the Valar]”.

Galadriel, the only woman of the Noldor to stand that day tall and valiant among the contending princes, was eager to be gone [from Valinor]. No oaths she swore, but the words of Fëanor concerning Middle-earth had kindled her heart, and she yearned to see the wide untrodden lands and to rule there a realm at her own will. For the youngest of the House of Finwë she came into the world west of the Sea, and knew yet nought of the unguarded lands. Morgoth’s Ring

In Unfinished Tales, Tolkien tells us Galadriel wanted to leave Valinor and travel to Middle-earth to exercise her talents; being brilliant in mind and swift in action she had early absorbed all of what she was capable of the teaching which the Valar thought fit to give the Eldar’, and she felt confined in the tutelage of Aman. In Valinor, Galadriel had been a pupil of both Aulë and Yavanna, and felt the Valar had already taught her everything they were allowed to.

This can look like a level of arrogance of the likes of Fëanor, however, this is not how Tolkien sees it. Galadriel is presented like a character full of potential, spirit and talent. And even Manwë, the King of the Valar himself, has heard of her desire to leave for Middle-earth and didn’t oppose.

Refusing the Valar pardon

At the end of the First Age she [Galadriel] proudly refused forgiveness or permission to return. Tolkien Letter 320

And this is the Galadriel we meet in the first episode of “Rings of Power”. The audience can immediately perceive she’s strong-willed, proud and rebellious, acting against orders of the High-king of the Noldor, Gil-galad, in her endless hunt for Sauron, Morgoth’s sucessor and the responsible for her brother’s death.

Galadriel is also the only Elf in Middle-earth who believes that Sauron is still out there, and means to find and destroy him, at any cost. “More and more of our kind began to believe that Sauron was but a memory. And the threat, at last, was ended. I wish I could be one of them.”

It was not your company who defied you out there, but rather you who defied the High King, by refusing to heed any limit placed upon you. In an act of magnanimity, he has chosen to honor your accomplishments… Rather than dwell upon your insolence. Test him again and you may find him less receptive than you might have hoped. Elrond warns Galadriel, 1x01

Gil-galad “honors” Galadriel by granting her passage to return to Valinor, and rest in glory. But she’s set on refusing, not because she’s certain Sauron will return, and wants to find him, but due to her belief she won’t find inner peace, until she accomplishes that, as she tells Elrond in the same episode:

Elrond: Do you truly believe seeking him out will satisfy you? That one more Orc upon the point of your blade will bring you peace? […] If you are wrong, will you lead more Elves to die in far-off lands? To convince yourself you have done enough, how many more statues would you add to this path? No one in history has ever refused the call. Do so now, it may never come again. Do so now, it may never come again. You will linger here, an outcast, poisoned in dark whispers and dreams. Galadriel: And in the West, do you think my fate would be better? Where song would mock the cries of battle in my ears? You say I have won victory over all the horrors of Middle-earth. Yet you would leave them alive in me? To take with me? Undying, unchanging, unbreaking, into the land of winter less spring? Elrond: Only in the Blessed Realm can that which is broken in you be healed. Go there. Go, and I promise you… If but a whisper of a rumor of the threat you perceive proves true, I will not rest until it is put right. You have fought long enough, Galadriel. Put up your sword.

I would also like to point out Elrond foreshadowing Galadriel’s banishment in this scene. And this is very much in line with what Tolkien wrote:

[Galadriel] had no peace within. Pride still moved her when, at the end of the Elder Days after the final overthrow of Morgoth, she refused the pardon of the Valar for all who had fought against him, and remained in Middle-earth. It was not until two long ages more had passed, when at last all she had desired in her youth came to her hand, the Ring of Power and the dominion of Middle-earth of which she had dreamed, that her wisdom was full grown and she rejected it, and passing the last test departed from Middle-earth forever. The Peoples of Middle-earth

The Darkness Within

“Rings of Power” presents some explanations to Galadriel refusing the Valar’s pardon and staying in Middle-earth. At the surface, it’s because she wants to hunt down Sauron, defeat him, and for Halbrand to be “The Lost King” who could ride [her] to victory, like Elrond says, in 2x02.

It’s because of her pride, or her desire for vengeance. However, in 1x05, and in a moment of vulnerability with Halbrand aka Repentant Mairon, she reveals the true reason behind her restless pursuit of Sauron:

Galadriel sees her endless pursue for Sauron as the means to earn her inner peace after everything she saw, did and endured on Middle-earth. It’s connected to her pride, yes, but also to her greatest and deepest desire of healing. And this is why she can’t stop her pursuit, even when we, the audience, watch Galadriel endanger her companions’ lives in 1x01. She believes only when she destroys Sauron, will she destroy the darkness within herself.

Indeed he does, because Sauron wants to heal Middle-earth from Morgoth’s corruption, at this point in his own character arc. But the “darkness within” has been present in Galadriel’s character ever since the prologue of “Rings of Power”, and this is also in line with Tolkien legendarium, as Galadriel recognizes the darkness in others as a mirror to her own, and how she refuses to talk about her time in Valinor with Melian.

And in Season 1, we see Galadriel employing some questionable tactics; in Númenor she acts behind Halbrand’s back with Queen regent Míriel to get herself an army (the army she claims to Adar Sauron promised her, in 2x06), and travel to the Southlands and defeat Sauron. There, she vows to genocide the Orcs and killing some of them in a gruesome manner (bringing them into the sunlight) just for Adar to reveal Sauron’s whereabouts, even though he already told her the truth (as he knows it): he killed Sauron.

It would seem I'm not the only Elf alive who has been transformed by darkness. Perhaps your search for Morgoth's successor should have ended in your own mirror. Adar taunts Galadriel, 1x06

And Adar will not be the only character to mention the pull to the darkness in Galadriel, in “Rings of Power”:

The light of Valinor shone upon your very face, Galadriel, and you turned your back on it. Was it truly to fight the darkness or was the darkness calling to you? Elrond, 2x01

This is more noticeable with Repentant Mairon aka Halbrand, when she acts the “Morgoth” to his “Sauron”, by tempting him with power while he’s on a quest for redemption. By then, we already have some pieces of foreshadowing on this. We have Gil-galad’s prophecy in 1x01: “We foresaw that if it had, she [Galadriel] might have inadvertently kept alive the very evil she sought to defeat [Sauron]. For the same wind that seeks to blow out a fire may also cause its spread.”

And we also see Galadriel in connection with the Fall of Númenor visions, in Season 1:

And Mairon himself confirms this in 1x08. And that explains his “are they not the seeds you planted?” in Season 2. Because she’s the one who tempted him with power, and with the pouch of the King of the Southlands (Morgoth), when he wanted to remain in Númenor in servitude, and to prove his good faith to the Valar, and redeem himself from his crimes under Morgoth.

However, not only Galadriel established a connection with him, but also said “I’ve felt it too” when he expressed his wish to bind himself to her (“Fighting at your side, I... I felt... If I could just hold on to that feeling, keep it with me always, bind it to my very being, then I...”). She gave him the validation he wanted, and made him believe she would offer him forgiveness, and he would earn the redemption he so desperately wanted. But she didn’t, she cast him out. And he wouldn’t let it slide that easily, as we’ve been in Season 2.

Growing in Wisdom

In Season 2, we saw some glimpses of Galadriel letting go of her arrogance and “galloping”, and seeing the “bigger picture” in some occasions. This is foreshadowing for her future character arc, as the wise and compassionate, yet fierce and valiant, leader we know her to be on the Third Age. From Tolkien lore, we know that as she grows in wisdom and power (“elf magic” as Sam calls it), Galadriel will leave her pride behind.

Arondir. There is a dearth of Elven heroes this night. It would be a pity to lose another. Galadriel advises Arondir not to attack Adar, 2x07

But perhaps her last scene with Adar, in 2x08, was the most emblematic of this. She has been to the Orc camp, and witnessed the funeral rites, and how the Orcs live, and realized that, maybe, they aren’t the scourged slaves she believed them to be, back in Season 1. Each one of them has a personality. Like Adar told her, in 1x06: “We are creations of The One, Master of the Secret Fire, the same as you. As worthy of the breath of life, and just as worthy of a home.”

And Galadriel is becoming more attuned to every race in Middle-earth, and the Orcs were only the beginning. And she was willingly to make an alliance with Adar, at the end. They shared an agreement (until Sauron showed up and put an end to that). But more importantly, Adar forgives Galadriel for her hatred and her killing of the Orcs. And, as I’ve talked about on my post on Repentant Mairon (aka Halbrand), forgiveness is a major theme in Tolkien legendarium, and it’s not only earned, but given as well. And by forgiving Galadriel and returning Nenya to her, Adar redeems himself (just like Gollum; which is a theme I talked about here).

Banishment from Valinor

In Letter 353, Tolkien confirms that “Galadriel was 'unstained': she had committed no evil deeds”, concerning the Oath of Fëanor. She took no part in any of that; because “she was an enemy of Fëanor”. In the same letter, Tolkien tells us Galadriel reached Middle-earth independently, and not alongside the other Noldor. And her desires were legitimate, but “she became involved in the desperate measures of Manwë, and the ban on all emigrations”.

Many (Christopher Tolkien included) think this contradicts Galadriel’s banishment from returning to Valinor. But this is an idea (“the banishment of Galadriel”) Tolkien has in place in several sources of his work. And it wouldn’t be the first time Christopher Tolkien misinterpreted his father work, either, with the Dagor Dagorath being a prime example, when he thinks Tolkien abandoned the concept when he didn’t (Christopher later corrected this, though).

And it has been noticed by many Tolkien scholars how Christopher Tolkien has “tone down” his father’s female characters on his notes and editions, too. With Galadriel being a prime example of this. Tolkien tells us on several occasions that Galadriel had aspirations of power and dominion, she wanted a kingdom of her own, to rule as she saw fit, and that’s why she remained on Middle-earth, and refused the Valar’s pardon. However, Christopher decided to strip Galadriel of her agency, and even attempted to whitewash her character by claiming she wanted to stay on Middle-earth due to her love for Celeborn, when this has nothing to do with what Tolkien himself wrote. So, excuse me, for talking his interpretation with a grain of salt.

And, since Galadriel is married to Celeborn, of course, he’s included on her plans of having a kingdom of her own (to be otherwise wouldn’t make sense), with them both ruling it, but Galadriel wants to be the one “calling the shots”. And this dynamic is what will happen in Lothlórien: Celeborn is lord, but Galadriel is *the* Lady, without her husband overstep or overshining her. I’m not seeing any contradiction here. Maybe a case of “overthinking”, because Letter 353 appears to be about Galadriel not taking the Oath of Fëanor (and that’s not the reason for her banishment).

I owe much of this character to Christian and Catholic teachings and imagination of Mary, but actually Galadriel was a penitent, in her youth, a leader in the rebellion against the Valar (the angelic guardians). At the end of the First Age she proudly refused forgiveness or permission to return. She was pardoned because of her resistance to the final and overwhelming temptation to take the [One] Ring for herself. Tolkien Letter 320

I already theorized about Galadriel connection to the Virgin Mary (she’s not “the Virgin Mary”, but a “devotee of the Virgin Mary” in Tolkien lore) but I think Tolkien is being very clear with his words here. He considers Galadriel a “repentant sinner”, and he doesn’t contradict himself at all. Because a desire for power and dominion are not positive traits on his legendarium. And the confirmation that she was pardoned by the Valar when she resists the One Ring, clearly indicates there was something more at work, and is connected with her return to Valinor.

In “Fellowship of the Ring” book, this is also clear: “I pass the test,” she says, “I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.” Her “passing the test” and resisting the One Ring is connected with her returning to Valinor.

We know, from Tolkien lore, Galadriel develops “sea longing” on the Third Age, and has a deep desire to return to Valinor, to the point of depression (she sings laments about it). One can argue she stays out of duty, but then why is she “pardoned” by the Valar after rejecting the One Ring and can now go to Valinor? The only explanation is that Galadriel was, indeed, banished, and her resisting the One Ring is her final test. She passes the test, the Valar pardon her, her banishment is lifted, and she returns to Valinor at the end of “The Return of the King”. No contradictions there.

On Christopher’s defense, he probably thought Galadriel “desiring power and dominion” weren’t good enough reasons for her to be banished from Valinor, and that’s a plot hole “Rings of Power” is trying to answer, with her connection with Sauron, and the temptations he offers her. He is, after all, the one who introduces the “desire for power and dominion” to her character arc in the show; by offering her temptations and promises of endless power (his power). Which means, Galadriel’s desire for dominion and power from Tolkien lore is personified by Sauron in the show. And the reason for her banishment, will be, also, connected to him, somehow, for Sauron has already offered her the same temptation as the One ring, thousands of years into the future:

And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair! She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illumined her alone and left all else dark. She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful. Fellowship of the Ring

In Tolkien legendarium, it’s not Galadriel adventurous or valiant nature that gets her into trouble with the Valar, but her rebellious spirit, and her pride, above of all, that lead her defy their authority, and wanting to claim a kingdom of her own where she can make her own rules. In “Rings of Power” the disapproval of the Valar are personified in the characters of Gil-galad and Elrond.

Indeed, her disregard for the Valar laws is visible on several occasions in lore. Not only she “proudly refused” their pardon to return to Valinor, at the dawn of the Second Age, but Tolkien tells us, in Unfinished Tales: Celeborn was the lover of Galadriel, who she later wedded. In Letter 43, Tolkien defines what he means by “a lover” (in general): “engaging and blending all his affections and powers of mind and body in a complex emotion powerfully coloured and energized by sex”.

This seems to imply, Galadriel didn’t wait to be “officially” married (ceremony, feast) to Celeborn before consummating their union. For the Eldar, “sex = marriage”, indeed, but the way Tolkien phrases this seems to indicate Galadriel doesn’t concern herself with the Eldar ways, and took Celeborn as her lover before any thought of actual marriage. Because language is extremely important in Tolkien, and we already know “sex = marriage” for the Eldar, so him writing this about Galadriel’s character means there’s something more to it.

Interestingly enough, these two themes are present in Tolkien last letter concerning Galadriel, in 1973 (the year of his passing). Without context, however, it’s unclear if the two are related or not, so read this with a whole saltshaker:

I meant right away to deal with Galadriel, and with the question of Elvish child-bearing.

[anghraine]

Another Tolkien rant before I (finally!!) go back to BG3:

By and large, heredity and ethnicity in Tolkien cannot be understood through blood quantum logic. I don't think this is even seriously debatable, really—it does not work.

Yes, Imrahil of Dol Amroth is many generations removed from his nearest Elvish ancestor. Yes, he's still visibly part-Silvan to someone like Legolas, and is Silvan-style pretty to everyone else, and his sister was mystically susceptible to Mordor's miasma and died of sea-longing.

Yes, Théoden has as much Númenórean ancestry as Eldacar, a literal Númenórean King of Gondor, and has the same Elvish ancestor as Imrahil. No, Théoden is not a Dúnadan and does not inherit Silvan features. Tolkien specifically contrasted the visible Silvan Elvish heritage of Imrahil and his nephews Boromir and Faramir with Théoden and Éomer's lack of them, though in some versions, Éomer inherited remarkable height from his Númenórean ancestry (but not specifically Elvish qualities like beardlessness).

The only known member of the House of Eorl to markedly inherit the distinctive Elvish appearance of the House of Dol Amroth is Elfwinë, son of Imrahil's daughter Lothíriel as well as of Éomer, and Elfwinë's appearance is attributed firmly to Lothíriel-Imrahil rather than Théodwyn-Morwen.

Aragorn and Denethor are descendants of Elendil removed by dozens of generations, and Elendil himself was many generations removed from Elros. Aragorn and Denethor's common heritage and special status results in a strong resemblance and kinship between these incredibly distant cousins, including innate beardlessness and various powers inherited from Lúthien, and a connection to the Maiar presumably derived from Lúthien's mother Melian (great-great-grandmother of their very distant ancestor Elros).

Galadriel has one Noldo grandparent (half as much Noldorin heritage as Théoden has Númenórean). She has ties to her Telerin and Vanyarin kin and inherits some of their traits (most notably her silvery-gold hair), but she is very fundamentally a Noldo.

Túrin Turambar is a member—and indeed, heir—of the House of Hador via patrilineality. However, he's strongly coded as Bëorian in every other way because of his powerful resemblance to his very Bëorian mother, while his sister Niënor is the reverse, identified strongly with Hadorian women and linked to their father, whom she never met.

Elrond and Elros have more Elvish heritage than anything else, but are defined as half-Elves regardless of choosing mortality or immortality. In The Nature of Middle-earth, Tolkien casually drops the bombshell that Elros's children with his presumably mortal partner also received a choice of mortality vs immortality (and then in true Tolkien style, breezed onto other, less interesting points). Elrond and his sons with fully Elvish Celebrían are referred to as Númenóreans as well as Elves, with Elladan and Elrohir scrupulously excluded from being classed as Elves on multiple occasions. Their sister Arwen, meanwhile, is a half-Elf regardless of how much literal mortal heritage she has but also is identified with the Eldar in a way they never are.

There's a letter that Tolkien received in which a fan asks how Aragorn, a descendant of Fíriel of Gondor, could be considered of pure Númenórean ancestry when Fíriel was a descendant of Eldacar, the "impure" king whose maternal heritage kicked off the Kinstrife. Tolkien's response is essentially a polite eyeroll (and understandably for sure), but it's not like ancestry that remote (or far more so) doesn't regularly linger.

The point, I guess, is that there's no hard and fast rule here that determines "real" ethnicity in Middle-earth or who inherits what narrative identification. It's clearly not dependent on purebloodedness (gross rhetoric anyway, but also can't be reconciled with ... like, anything we see). It's not based on upbringing or culture alone. Túrin and Niënor, for instance, are powerfully identified with the Edain narratively despite their upbringings. Their double cousin Tuor, however, is a more ambiguous figure in terms of the Elves, whom he loves and lives among and possibly even joins in immortality—yet Tuor's half-Elf son Eärendil, whose cultural background is overwhelmingly Elvish, is naturally aligned with Men and only chooses immortality for his wife's sake.

Elladan and Elrohir, as mentioned above, are sons of an Elf, Celebrían, and of Elrond, a half-Elf who chose immortality and established a largely Elvish community at Rivendell. But the twins have a centuries-long affinity with their mortal Dúnadan kin and delay choosing a kindred to be counted among long after Arwen's choice.

Patrilineal heritages are more often than not given priority, which has nothing to do with how much of X blood someone has, only which side it comes from. Queen Morwen's children and descendants are emphatically Rohirrim who don't ping Legolas's Elvishness radar (though Elfwinë might, later on; we're not told). King Eldacar is firmly treated as a Dúnadan with no shortening of lifespan or signs of Northern heritage. Finwë's children and grandchildren are definitionally Noldor.

But this is by no means absolutely the case. The Elvishness of the line of Dol Amroth is not only inherited from Mithrellas, a woman, but passes to some extent to Boromir and Faramir through their mother Finduilas. Denethor and Aragorn's descent from Elros primarily comes through Silmariën, a woman (and also through Rían daughter of Barahir and Morwen daughter of Belecthor for Denethor, and Fíriel daughter of Ondoher for Aragorn). And of course, Elros's part-Maia heritage that lingers among his descendants for thousands of years derives from women, Lúthien and Melian.

So there's not some straightforward system or rule that will tell you when a near or remote ancestor "matters" when it comes to determining a character's identity, either to the character or to how they're handled by the narrative. Sometimes a single grandparent, or great-grandparent, or more distant ancestor, is fundamental to how a character is treated by the story and understands themself. Sometimes a character is so completely identified with one parent that the entire other half of their heritage is negligible to how they're framed by the story and see themself. It depends!

[probablygoodrpgideas]

I think when it comes to building a world that has multiple races/ancestries/kintypes/whatever you want to call them, there are two extremes

The first (I'll call it the Tolkien approach) is to have each of the races fill a specific role. Elves live in the forest and are old and wise. Hobbits live in the shire and are chill. Dwarves live in the mountains and mine etc.

There can be multiple cultures among a single race (typically the humans) but there are no cultures that have any significant diversity. There can be individuals that live among a culture that is not of their race (e.g Bilgo, Arwen) but they are outliers.

It's very easy to be racist with this approach, but it's not inherently racist. In my (white) opinion, if you want to do this (or lean towards it) make sure that the individual types represent concepts and not real world cultures. The orcs as a representation of industrialisation are great, the fact that they're typically depicted with darker skin than anyone else less so

The other (I'll call it the ICON approach) is to just have a bunch of kintypes primarily for the purpose of allowing for more interesting character designs.

There can still be biological differences, but ultimately your culture is what is important. To directly quote the ICON rulebook: " Culture is far more important than Kintype. A Trogg and a Xixo from the same village are far more alike than two Troggs from different part of the world."

Cultures are also diverse. There is no culture that is just one type of Kin, and there is no Kin that has just one culture.

Obviously, as with most thigns in life, lots of things don't fit either of these extremes.

On a scale of 1-5 with 1 being the Tolkien approach and 5 being the ICON approach, I think the Forgotten Realms would be a 3. There are some strong associations with specific cultures to specific species but you can find anything anywhere, especially in the larger cities like Waterdeep or Baldur's Gate.

My setting of Draxnor would be a 4. Associatins between cultures and ancestries are typically weak and mostly only the result of the different ancestries originating in different parts of the world. There is one notable exception, the almost entirely dark elven Drow Queendom, but even they have notable amounts of dwarves, tieflings, and gnomes among them and there are enough dark elves in other nations that most wouldn't assume any dark elf to be part of the Drow Queendom.

[theoppositeofprofound]

We always talk about what gets remembered by Tolkien cultures, the oral histories and popular mythologies, but we never stop to consider the much worse reverse, the people who are forgotten. Especially in a memory-centric, semi-immortal society like Aman! Having your deeds left out of the record must be especially upsetting.

Some lesser Feanorian lieutenant gets a grudging parole from Mandos and realizes in horror that no one sings about the great battle in the Gap that felled them—they died in glory but all their fellow soldiers went and did a cheeky kinslaying or two after the bragollach so no one puts much stock by their less evil deeds.

The first elf from a Kinn-Lai settlement makes the choice to heed the Doomsman’s call and reunite with their long sundered kin in the Blinding Land. They recall the stories passed down—of tearful goodbyes and promises made—but of the blithe star-eyed elves only Ingwë and a few others can vaguely recall the parting words they offered to their worried families. Their family trees start when they set out on their journey, they make themselves motherless, fatherless. Did you even think of us, did you wonder how we were faring?

A reincarnation of Dúrin who returns and finds that the story of their last life is wrong. It weaves a great friendship where there was only amicable tolerance, misrepresents motives, fudges facts, erases an close councilor completely. Dwarves carve their history in stone and write their own epitaphs when they’re alive. It’s terrifying to see that even the rock can be manipulated.

[fatcatlittlebox]

What do you make of the people unironically rooting for celeborn to appear. Someone on twitter was saying that Galadriel has been “yearning” for her husband to come back and I was like, girl where. She mentioned him in all of ONE scene LAST season. Like there is one man Galadriel has certainly been obsessing shaking crying over for the whole series to date and it’s not her husband.

It would be tricky introducing Celeborn because they dont have the rights to the Unfinished Tales or Silm where most of their marriage backstory is described. But even if they did have those rights, there are alot of gaps and instances where Celeborn and Galadriel are doing their own thing. So his absence right now, though not accurate to canon, is not uncharacteristic from what Tolkien described. Id be interested if they make it a new love story for Gal or paint him to be a problematic guy. The text suggests that he’s kind of like a dwarf racist. Her one mention of him also hinted at a little tension.

I do think she misses him in the way one misses their youth and innocence. I don’t consider that yearning though. In the show it’s suggested he was lost in war when they were both very young in their marriage. And that they met when she was dancing in a glade. This is what I mean by an example of chivalric love. Celeborn, a prince, falls in love at first sight with a pretty princess. But ROP has made it very clear that Galadriel is no damsel in distress. In fact, all of the love stories on ROP are a total repudiation of this ideal. This story she tells also paints a pretty descriptive picture of who they both were at the time when they were married. Which is to say, she was a totally different person. She mentioned being naive about the war and absent any battle scars. His armor didn’t fit which hints that neither had extensive experience in combat. Galadriel wasn’t a commander and she hadn’t seen the loss of her kin and brother that would spawn the bloodlust and vendetta she became notorious for. And even though the memories of elves never dim, that doesn’t mean she’s the same person Celeborn married. She craves power now. No matter what these online experts say, TROP got that right.

Forgetting the fact that in the text she was actively involved in elven power struggles, that she desired her own realm, Galadriel wears a ring of power. She chooses to wear it. She doesn’t have to. The other elven rings change hands. But she wears it knowing that it will effectively and fundamentally ensure that she will never be that elf dancing carefree in a glade again.

But this is why ROP Galadriel and Celeborn’s marriage is so different from the text. I can understand text Galadriel yearning for her missing husband because their backstory supports shared ambitions, war experience and they also had Celebrian by this time. But TROP Galadriel and Celeborn will not have any of that deep history. So we’ll just have to see.

[tar-thelien]

Explayining my Eöl is a Maia propaganda because @dfwbwfbbwfbwf told me to go for it and it made my head do a happy flip!!

Going to keep it to topics so it´s easier to read :)

Kin to Thingol & Residence/Friendship/Smith/Sorcery & Enchantments/Aredhel & Maeglin/Gondolin

Kin to Thingol & Residence:

We know Eöl is a dark elf who´s also a smith and kin to Thingol, who somehow knows a lot more sorcery than any other elf. That could be because he decided to live in an already enchanted forest but with that logic, Aredhel would become known in sorcery too so there got to be more to it.

He was said to be "restless and ill at ease in Doriath" when Melian raised the griddle, might be that Tolkien seems to have Maia be slightly territorial towards each other.

Kin can mean someone married into the family, and if Eöl and Melian is as close as they seem in the books they probably think of each other as some kind of siblings.

Friendship:

Eöl doesn't really seem to mind of the other races, he´s close friends with the dwarves, it only seems to be the Noldor he has beef with, for the kinslaying.

I think the note about the sun is important as a lot of the Sindir seem to like the stars better, although the comment about his servants strikes me, they are said to be similar in nature to him after him being described as a borderline evil wizard, which could either be, if you took a dark turn, that he enchanted them he pulled a Sauron or he somehow "blessed" them by sharing some of his Maia magic or them themself are some sorts of weaker Maiar.

Smith:

He was a smith and he created a new form of iron that was the strongest ever found - "as hard as the steel of the Dwarves", he was not messing around AND he made to TALKING swords out of a fallen star!! Tolkien never again mentioned stars as anything you could hold if you were not of the Ainur, and Aule had a tendency to lose his Maiar... just saying

Sorcery & Enchantments:

In some versions, Eöl is said to rape Aredhel which elvers die from just as a violation of their Hröa, yet she lives on, just as the orcs did when Melkor violated them.

Eöl seems to control Nan Elmoth to an absolute, and not only with what magic reminds from Melian, but he also seems to control growth light and roads as well as openings.

He can also hold stars and give metal it´s own soul.

Aredhel & Maeglin:

It could be he was evil or the Sindir/Avarin has other naming ritual (I do believe that and I have a page here I need to rewrite about it) but he seems to have no idea about elven costumes except from what he has observed Thingol doing.

When Aredhel nears Nan Elmoth Eöl commands the forest to separate her for her company luring her into his forest because he likes her look (maybe he´s just autistic??) where he shows himself and welcomes her to his home which she accepts and then chooses to stay, of her own will or under magic depends on the version, he later takes her as a wife and "they wandered far together under the stars or by the light of the sickle moon" even after he gets angry when she asks if she can see her kin again (not leave him just see her family) where he tell her to "shun sunlight" and after that, it sounds as if Nan Elmoth grows darker.

Note that Eöl too bans Quenya and only names Maeglin after 12 years, for his sharp eyes. And not sharp as in they see things, probably that too, but sharp as in "more piercing than his own" we know of two other characters with piercing eyes, and one of them is a Vala, Melkor, who if you look into the eyes of you go insane soooo...

When Maeglin near the years of an adult he requests to visit Celegorm and Curufin which sets Eöl off he threatends to "set him in bonds" if he does, and tells him he is the "house of Eöl", not Thingol, which seems a bit weird when he does a lot of other things alike to Thingol, as if he´s almost worshipping him, or looking at him to know how to act. If he was as loyal to Thingol as his action is (he lives in the place where Thingol first went on a date at) he would probably had said house of Thingol, as again he is KIN to Thingol.

We also know that Maeglin is really skilled in sorcery and Ósanwë, which some of the Valinor elvers are too, namely Idril, and his skill seems to be hinted to come from Nan Elmoth, a Maia-

Gondolin:

We know no one could find Gondolin, yet Eöl does it by tracking his wife and kid who left a week before him if not more?? there has to have been magic in over that, also he convinces Curufin to let him go - note that Curufin did tell that he thought Eöl was trying to deceive him by magic or just words we know not, I also think it funny that Eöl briefly calls Curufin kin because of Aredhel, but it makes me feel like it´s more to honor a smith than marriage.

Note that Eöl did not find his way into Gondolin, as it likely had enchantments on it, but he knew the way at first guess, and he´s fast enough to catch up to Aredhel and Maeglin when they are entering, even if Aredhel and Maeglin left before him and likely with the fastest horses and wasn´t stopped like he was.

When he cosses death for him and Maeglin he makes it seems as if he´s convinced they will survive, as if he dosne´t care for Aredhel here or that he wants her to live on, but he cares for Maeglin in a corrupt way and wants his son to die with him or he simply knows they will serve where Aredhel will not.

All in all I think it would make perfect sense if he was a Maia of Aule who either followed Melian to Beleriand or Melkor - if he followed Melkor who would later decide he wanted to go solo

[ithil-the-elf]

Calling all Tolkien elves. I am developing a discord server for us to find one another and feel at home again. If you would like an invite please comment or dm me.

[jag-rat]

Let's analyse the drow!

Quick history on the drow: The drow have been historically characterised as ‘evil’, especially in earlier editions their alignment was always on the evil spectrum. Even Drizzt Do’urden for example was a story that essentially circles around one ‘good’ drow who managed to rise above the rest of his kin and become ‘one of the good ones’. I think we also need to acknowledge that in the earlier editions drow definitely had racist implications around them intentionally or not. With the drow initially being described as ‘completely opal black aside from their white hair’ and essentially just existed as the ‘evil’ elf counterparts to their perfect blonde cousins. Now in recent years wizards of the coast have started to rectify this. As of right now Drow have been described as being more purplish grey in colour and are steering towards being implied not to be 'completely evil'. There's no doubt about it that the drow have had a rocky history and being overtly over-sexualisalised by the early writers definitely didn't help much either. But I still think there's something very interesting wedged into this unique race of elves. 

Lolth's role: Their main goddess is of course Lolth who even in modern renditions is always depicted as a chaotic evil spider demon. You could argue she’s currently the main reason why the surface folk still don’t like these dark elves. Even in Baldur's gate three which came out last year the writers make a point of emphasising that the ‘good drow’ are the ones choosing to rebel against this goddess. Now obviously this ‘good’ and ‘evil’ thing has always been a core part of DND, which makes sense given it was inspired by Tolkien who consistently made a point about there being two sides, good and evil. And it's still a very common theme in modern fantasy but I think when we look at Lolth and her connection to the drow from a more contextual standpoint this insistence of ‘evil’ isn’t nearly as interesting as exploring the greyer implications of how this Goddess came to be. Being viewed as ‘evil’ in the dnd universe is natural as Lolth is written as a chaotic evil being, encouraging violence, the sacrifice of first born sons, and general betrayal among your fellow drow isn’t very appealing. It's enough for anyone to wonder why the drow worship her in the first place if they aren’t evil. However I think it's also important to remember in real life when we create gods they almost always reflect our world, the good and the bad. Let's take Zeus for example, he was a pretty shitty guy, cheating on his wife, kidnapping women and punishing people for petty reasons. But he was still worshipped, he just reflected power and kinghood. And kings aren't perfect or benevolent, they can abuse their power and take what they want. People are complex and imperfect and so are their Gods. So a similar sort of argument could be made for Lolth. 

How the environment shapes a culture: The underdark is almost always described as a harsh environment, with creatures like hook horrors casually wandering around, mushrooms that explode when touched and let's be honest probably not a lot of food in a place with little sunlight or stability. Earthquakes happen often here killing many and flattening villages. The underdark is without a doubt an unpredictable chaotic and cruel hellscape where death is a guarantee and often occurs for little to no reason. It's not hard to imagine how competition could become everything here. That means that every creature living in the underdark, even every other drow clan is just another competitor for those sparse food and resources in an already barren and harsh climate. In an environment so unforgiving and competitive you can imagine how a Goddess such as Lolth would be worshipped. Because Lolth, like most Gods, reflects the environment her worshippers live in, she is characterised as being as cruel, violent and chaotic as the underdark is. And the teachings of violence, sacrifice and betrayal that she encourages of her followers might not actually be such a bad thing but rather the key to the drows continued long term survival in such an impossible climate. Traditions and culture almost always stem from a purpose, in this case how you survive. The cutthroat nature of drow culture mirrors the underdark in such a way that it ensures that the strongest survive (although it's important to note when I say ‘strongest’ I don't mean it in a literal sense but rather those who possess the qualities best suited for survival in that environment.) The strict hierarchical structure also ensures this, with female drow being favoured as they are naturally larger, stronger and more robust than their male counterparts. Which in itself is most likely because larger stronger women generally lead to a higher rate of survival in offspring especially in harsher conditions where a single misstep can be certain death. This physical and social difference lends itself to the spider metaphor of their goddess both literally and figuratively where spiders eat their males. But as unfair as this rigid hierarchy based on sex seems, it can be argued like many cultural phenomena to be a curated survival method in itself. After all you need fewer males than females to maintain a stable population which is an important detail when living somewhere with a natural lack of food. Even sacrificing your first newborn son as gruesome of a tradition as it is, in a way makes sense. It selectively ensures that the male population is lower meaning less overall resource demand in an already scarce environment will be lower while still being able to maintain some semblance of genetic diversity.

Solutions to these dilemmas?: Now of course it goes without saying all these things are horrible, sex selection, strict hierarchies and encouraged violence to decrease competition are all bad. However in an extreme dystopian sounding scenario such as this one it does at the very least make sense. And I think what we can gather from this is that despite all the terrible things, at least terrible to us living in the world we are, drow aren’t really evil. Not even their society despite its depiction is ‘evil’. Calling them evil is kind of like if lions from a zoo who get fed everyday started calling wild lions evil for eating zebras. We may not like it of course but it's not fair to call it evil, it’s survival. In the same way Lolth isn’t even an ‘evil’ Goddess, she's just a cruel and unfair one, made to reflect the natural violence of the underdark and the lived experiences of those worshipping her. When debating the drows morality it's just about context. It brings some questions to mind. Like if the ‘good drow’ drow who are against Lolth did manage to rebel and forcefully shift the culture of the drow to be more like the surface elves for example what would really happen? Would the drow stop all their violent habits and competitiveness to live happily ever after in a more equal world? Or when all of this ‘evil’ behaviour was ‘corrected’ would it lead to a ripple effect causing famine and death anyway? Who are the surface dwellers to determine what’s wrong and right when they’ve never had to survive in such an environment? Perhaps instead the culture of the drow would just naturally change over time anyways if the need for those more violent and extreme traditions subsided because there were more ways of accessing resources and building a stabler environment. Either way I don’t know the future of drow society, but what I do know is that it’s far more complex and grey than we give it credit for.

[tethysresort]

Tolkien doesn’t specify where the dragons came from, just that Morgoth had them and then added wings to the later models.

New random headcanon:  Morgoth cannot create, only warp.  So he kidnapped Asian style dragons from along the Eastern Sea and dragged them back to Angband where he warped them away from philosophers who lived next to the elven and dwarf communities and sometimes played riddle games and shared stories.  He turned them into bullies, monsters, and sources of terror with a lust for gold. 

In the same way that in the Years of the Trees and First Age an occasional elf sees a long-lost kinsman now broken into an orc, the dragons sometimes saw their kin and wept. 

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

My last post (about Galadriel and Halbrand having sex in Season 1) stirred some reactions, I think I should address them in an actual post, because I know a lot of fellow fans also have doubts about this.

The Tolkien legendarium (or lore) is massive, and ever expanding, and allows for multiple interpretations within what Tolkien wrote. As one Tolkien expert very well said, there is no "Tolkien canon", there is a legendarium, and some plots might fit that lore even if Tolkien didn’t write them himself (example: Sauron x Galadriel); 

“Rings of Power” is building upon Tolkien lore, so there’s also a show canon. 

I was told Galadriel’s pride (and being a princess of the Noldor) would never allow her to “secretly have sex in dark corners with an incredibly attractive, but unknown man with a dark past”. And I can't forget that High Elves do not behave like ordinary people.

Yeah, I don’t know about that, because back in the 1970’s director John Boorman planned a film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, where Galadriel and Frodo actually had sex. And this script was approved by Tolkien himself. This movie, obviously, was never made, but a copy of the script is in Marquette University’s Tolkien collection.

If Tolkien approved of Galadriel f*cking a Hobbit in the middle of the woods, I don’t see why he would be against the idea of her having sex with a “mortal man” she was in love with at the time, in Eregion. At least, there would be some actual emotion involved here (which is more Eldar-like than just randomly having casual sex). Unless, Tolkien actually wrote Galadriel x Sauron and this draft is being kept a secret all this time, and somehow Sauron possessed Frodo to have sex with Galadriel, and that's why he approved this wild take.

In the “Unfinished Tales”, Tolkien wrote that Galadriel and Celeborn were lovers before they were actually married (which is very un-Eldar like). Well, Celeborn wasn’t a rebel, so they might have shared a few kisses while they were betrothed. Either way, Tolkien has clearly established a precedent here, with Galadriel being different from her kin, when sexuality is concerned.

I was told Galadriel was in love with Halbrand but didn’t want to touch him anymore than “fraternal handshakes”. Because Galadriel is a High Elf, and, so, she doesn’t have sexual desires (they will only appear when she wants children).

I don’t recall Tolkien saying that sexual desire, for Elves, only appears when they want to have children. This take isn’t in the “Eldar customs” chapter, where he talks about Elven sexuality. And we do have Elf characters (mostly male) in Tolkien lore who lust relentlessly after she-elves; Fëanor, Celebrimbor, Curufin, etc.  

Tolkien wrote that Elves enjoy sex (the act), but only do it with the purpose of having children, because they have self-restrain (not because they are immune to sexual desire). He wrote, however, that sexual desire usually dies out after the children are born, because the Elves devote themselves to other occupations.  

On the topic of Galadriel not touching Halbrand other than "fraternal handshakes", I remember her touching other body parts:

And this sneaky bastard doing this:

She was pretty much naked when they first met, so I don’t know about this “shame” or need to play coy.

We also saw Galadriel flirting with Halbrand in Season 1, for... no reason? By definition, flirting is a sexual behavior involving body language, where there’s no need for words most of the time, nor actual touching. Precisely because she's a High Elf, it's not like she would be trying to smack Halbrand's ass and wink.

Interesting enough, here, it’s Galadriel who, unconsciously, reaches out for Halbrand’s hand. 

I was accused of carefully hiding the fact that “sex = marriage” to the Elves on my original post.

I didn't. I actually talked about it twice:

For the Eldar sex = marriage. So much so, that a couple is considered married if they exchange vows to the Valar (Tolkien never specified these vows, only that Manwë is mentioned) and have sex (no feast or celebration required): this usually happens when the couple is in flight, and exile, and wandering.  The eternal bond (= marriage; because divorce is forbidden) between Elves happens during sex; when they have sex for the first time their bodies and souls become one (= “union of souls”), and it’s a more intense physical and spiritual experience than for Men. Elves who have not had that union together have not yet established that incredible bond.

Hence, I'm not sure where I hide this fact, exactly.

I was told that Maiar are higher-beings, meaning they are nobler and purer than those below them in Tolkien hierarchy (Elves, Dwarves, Men). And Maiar don’t reproduce (except for Melian). Sauron doesn’t have sexual desire because he’s a higher being, and he’s evil.  

I already wrote about this crap ("Sauron can't love, he's evil") many times, I’m not going to repeat myself: here, and here. 

Maiar can reproduce, if they chose to. Tolkien wrote an entire essay on it "Ósanwë-kenta”. Melian was able to reproduce because that was her choice, she’s not some “special case” among the Maiar. The majority of them probably wasn’t interest in becoming bound to their physical forms, though.

We also have Gandalf, one of the most powerful Maiar of all and one of the Istari, who indulges in “earthly pleasures” quite often. Mainly smoking weed pipe.  

To bring home the point that Maiar don’t care about sex, because they are higher beings, the Valar were used as an example: "the Valar don't have sex at all, they can only be in love" I'm told.

Yeah, no. Tolkien wrote this about Morgoth, when he saw Lúthien dancing for him (and the original draft was even more sexual, with Lúthien almost naked): 

Then Morgoth looking upon her beauty [Lúthien] conceived in his thought an evil lust, and a design more dark than any that had yet come into his heart since he fled from Valinor. Thus he was beguiled by his own malice, for he watched her, leaving her free for a while, and taking secret pleasure in his thought.

Morgoth, who's a Vala, wanted to rape Lúthien in this scene ("evil lust", "a design more dark"). That's what Tolkien wrote. There's no love going on here, Tolkien is just poetic with his writing. Meaning, even the Valar have sexual desires. And Maiar do, too.

Morgoth (the literal Devil and the ultimate evil in Tolkien lore) lusted after both Varda (he probably loved Varda, in the beginning, actually) and Lúthien, but his servant (lower in rank) isn’t capable of the same emotions, I hear.

The fact that these are Gods and demigods has literally nothing to do with it. Anyone who’s familiar with worldwide mythology knows that “Gods and demigods lusting or falling in love with humans, etc.” is “today's special” on the menu. 

This, again, comes from the obnoxious idea that Tolkien was (only) inspired by Christianity to create his lore, and conveniently ignore all of his other inspirations: Old Norse/Greek/Slavic mythology, Germanic legends (Beowulf, mainly), Arthurian Legends, medieval tales, etc. Yes, Tolkien was a catholic, but he wasn’t a catholic priest. His work isn’t a copy-paste from the Bible. 

[glorfindel-of-imladris]

Erestor in The Return of Shadow

Today on even more obscure Erestor lore, here are all the Erestor mentions in The Return of Shadow.

The Return of Shadow is the sixth book in the 12-volume The History of Middle-earth series. It shows the early versions of what would later be The Fellowship of the Ring and as such, is the only other book apart from The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King when Erestor, Elrond's chief counsellor, is mentioned.

In the first version of the text, Erestor was already conceived as a counsellor to Elrond. He was not yet chief, but he was still an Elf, although he was in the company of two Half-elves.

Christopher Tolkien lists early characters conceived for this chapter. Erestor pre-dates both Gimli and Legolas, and seems to have always been a part of the plans for the Council scene.

In a later but still pre-FotR version, Tolkien considered the idea of Erestor being Half-elven, exchanging him with the two Half-elves from the earlier excerpt.

There is a footnote from Christopher Tolkien however that said that even as an Elf instead of Man (Half-elf) in the first version, Erestor was nonetheless implied to be a kinsman of Elrond.

This detail about him being Elrond's kinsman is no longer in the published version of The Fellowship of the Ring. All the same, Erestor being as close as kin to Elrond remains to be a popular fanon, and this at least seems to be a sentiment early versions of the text share.

We now move to an early manuscript of the critical dialogues in 'The Council of Elrond' (early title being, 'In the House of Elrond'):

This exchange is largely the same as what we see in the published version in FotR. Erestor suggests to seek the aid of Tom Bombadil, who seems immune to the power of the Ring. Gandalf advises against this, and so Erestor proceeds to give alternatives:

In this version, the ideas of sending the Ring west to Valinor or destroying it also came from Erestor. In the published version, these lines were given to Glorfindel, although interestingly, the footnotes imply that Glorfindel has already been considered before, as well as Elrond.

As we will later see in the published version, Tolkien eventually distributes Erestor's lines among the other members of the Council. Glorfindel suggests sending the Ring West, but Elrond is the one who explains why this cannot work. Glorfindel then suggests destroying the Ring or casting it into the Sea. Lastly, the lines, "The journey to the Havens would be fraught with peril..." were later given to Galdor, who was then changed to be an Elf of the Havens instead of Mirkwood.

There is another interesting footnote in this section around Erestor's conversations with Gandalf. It's a nice detail, especially considering that the earlier dialogues and exchange of ideas were mostly between Erestor and Gandalf, showing familiarity between the two:

After this, the text progresses to a long dialogue involving Boromir and Glóin, which even touched on the history and the conception of the other Rings of Power. Similar to the published FotR, Erestor returns the discussion to the task at hand:

What's interesting for me in these early versions of the text is how Tolkien seems to have had a good idea of what purpose Erestor needs to serve in the text. The lines in the published version are more evenly distributed among Erestor, Glorfindel, Galdor, Elrond and Gandalf, but in the early version, Erestor is practically the outline on matters surrounding the question, "What do we do with Sauron's Ring?" and thus also moves the discussion along to a decision.

[thelordofgifs]

Obscure Tolkien Blorbo: Semifinal

Eldacar of Gondor vs One (1) Rivendell elf who sings tra-la-la-lally

Eldacar of Gondor:

The twenty-first King of Gondor, also known as Vinitharya. During his reign the conflict known as the Kin-strife occurred and he was forced from his throne for ten years.

The blorbo of all time actually. He’s the protagonist of one of the most interesting stories in the LoTR appendices, the Kin-strife, and everything about his life story is so fascinating! His father was the crown prince of Gondor and his mother was the princess of Rhovanion so not a Númenorean. As a result all the racist nobles of Gondor made noises about how Eldacar was of “lesser race” and wouldn’t live as long as a “true Dúnadan”. One of the most fascinating examples of fantasy racism in Tolkien’s works imo – the bigotry is awful but the bigots have a shield to hide behind! Obviously their concerns are actually valid because they just don’t want their king to die young! (Their concerns aren’t valid. But I think the worldbuilding here is great.) Anyway Eldacar was born in Rhovanion and given the birth-name Vinitharya, but when he returned to Gondor aged five he was obliged to take up the Quenya name Eldacar, presumably to pacify all the racists in Gondor. He’s the EMBODIMENT of mixed-race/immigrant child trauma my beloved. Eventually his father died and he ascended to the throne of Gondor, but then his shitty second cousin Castamir (all my homies hate Castamir he’s the worst) started the civil war known as the Kin-strife and usurped Eldacar’s throne. Eldacar was forced to flee north to Rhovanion but Castamir captured his eldest son Ornendil and had him cruelly put to death which is SO SAD. But Eldacar, being brave and resourceful and clever and extremely cool, put together an alliance with his mother’s kinsfolk in Rhovanion and after ten years reclaimed his throne, which turned out to be slightly easier than expected because Castamir was The Worst and all his subjects hated him. And Eldacar PERSONALLY fought and killed Castamir HIMSELF and AVENGED HIS SON which is extremely important when you consider all the cringefail elves in the legendarium whose quests for revenge didn’t really go anywhere at all. Then he lived to be 235 proving that all the idiot racists who were worried about his lifespan didn’t have any idea what they were talking about, as is par for the course with racists. Also the Kin-strife itself has such far-reaching consequences for the history of Gondor! The Corsairs of Umbar, Gondor’s long-standing enemies, are actually followers of the descendants of Castamir. And during the Usurpation of Castamir Osgiliath was sacked and burned, leading to the beginning of its decline as Gondor’s greatest city. Even though Eldacar’s story is, to me, ultimately hopeful, it’s also such a fascinating turning point in the history of Gondor. Also ALSO he’s explicitly surrounded by textual ghosts which is really fascinating. His father Valacar has “children” plural – so Eldacar had siblings!! What were they like? How did they react to it all? And his son Aldamir is described as Eldacar’s second son and third child, meaning that he had a daughter too. Who was she?? What happened to her? He’s such a blorbo and there’s so much interesting stuff to dig into around him and he has to win this entire tournament please please please❤️

One (1) Rivendell elf who sings tra-la-la-lally:

One of the Elves of Rivendell who sing tra-la-la-lally in The Hobbit.

This one specific elf sings tra la la lally with the rest but he is slightly off key and the other elves bully him for it

they’re SILLY!!! We need NEED more silly elves!! Like who are these weirdos just hanging out in the trees of Rivendell? Did they know the dwarves were coming and gather their friends to specifically climb those trees to sing nonsense at them? Do they just normally sit there and sing about every little thing they see? Is this a traditional Rivendell thing or are those elves just really strange? I’m obsessed with them they’re everything to me. Elves are oft portrayed as being Too Serious in this fandom and silly elves need rights too! Silly elf rights!!!!

Semifinals masterpost

[littlethingwithfeathers]

Us that wander here...

DragonCon 2024 was quite the ride. It was definitely not a trip without its issues... there was the whole hotel debacle, having to walk uphill 30 minutes in 90+ degree heat and humidity to get anywhere from our hotel, and because of that just generally struggling to get to do all the things we normally get to do. I barely saw my friends that I only see once a year. Only had a few chances to play Magic. I had to hustle to get places after panels... didn't get to speak to the guests like I usually try to.

There were amazing things too... don't get me wrong. There was Elf Choir on Friday... we had well over 150 people in that hall. I got to help lead the panel on a ballroom stage! A room big enough to have screens with all our faces plastered on them. It was pretty incredible to say the least.

But... on Sunday night, I got to do my favorite part of con every year. Lantern Elves. For those not in the know, there's a group of Tolkien fans who recreate the Elves' journey to the Gray Havens. We walk from one end of the con to the other, singing the Hymn to Elbereth with lanterns in tow. All in costume. All of us aglow. All singing together.

And I'll be honest... every year when we round into the first sky bridge with its cathedral-like acoustics, and we sing that first "O Elbereth, Gilthoniel!" I always get a little misty. People politely stop to watch us pass. Some smiling. Some gasp with surprise. Sometimes there's tears. And for a minute, they all go along for the fantasy with us. It's just... fantastic. For a minute I'm not exhausted, heat-worn, and grumpy. I'm an Elf going home with my kin with my lantern to light our way.

For a minute, Elves are real.

Tolkien had a lot to say about the healing power of the escapism found in fantasies and fairy stories. He was a man in need of much the same himself, spending the first half of his adult life at war and then the rest someplace almost worse... Academia. (I kid...) And he makes a worthy defense of such escapism in his essays and letters, but truthfully, the best way to understand is to come to DragonCon and escape with us for a minute. Come have a little bit of joy in creating a fantasy for yourself and those around you. Make people gasp with delight. Come be a dinosaur. Or a Fremen. Or a Doctor. Or a meme.

Or an Elf with a lantern. Trust me... the world is a little lighter when you have... well... a light for the passing.