#western gondor

[lotro-tooltips-daily]

[anghraine]

Just thinking about Gondor, as usual, and how wild it is that the (supposedly minority!) population of Gondorians who speak Sindarin and/or know Quenya at the end of the Third Age is likely higher than the combined number of all Elves still remaining in Middle-earth who can speak either.

Tolkien's specific statement is that more Men speak Sindarin or know Quenya than Elves do either, but while this group of Men would encompass people like the Northern Dúnedain, Théoden, etc, the letter directly links this to Gondorian usage of Sindarin and Quenya. That does make sense given the extreme population disparities involved; the vast majority of the Men in question would pretty much have to come from Gondor. Certainly, the only place where we actually see widespread, casual, local Sindarin usage among Men is Minas Tirith (though we know the linguistic patterns of MT are also characteristic of Dol Amroth and likely throughout much of Belfalas).

In addition, Tolkien tried to make sense of the limited evolution of Gondorian Sindarin by saying it's an acquired polite language among Númenórean aristocratic elites and scholars. In the actual process of writing LOTR there were various explanations (in one draft Faramir explains that Westron is a Gondorian conlang invented for dealings with other peoples, for instance). But Tolkien's standard justification for Gondorian Sindarin being so recognizable soon settled on an idea that Gondorian Sindarin is a language of the elites taught to them in childhood and used as a courtesy or mark of high status rather than evolving naturally.

I've always found this explanation a bit odd given that in the main narrative of LOTR, the Gondorian groups we see using Sindarin in full sentences/conversations rather than for specific names like Mithrandir or isolated words are mainly Gondorian soldiers outside of leadership roles. Faramir's men in Ithilien switch to "another language of their own" that turns out to be Sindarin. In the streets of Minas Tirith, "many" random soldiers call out to each other in Sindarin to gossip about Pippin. The almost entirely Gondorian armies following Aragorn praise the hobbits in Sindarin and Quenya.

But if we take Tolkien's statement at face value, the implication is that Númenórean elites in Gondor (i.e. a small fraction of the overall Gondorian population) outnumber the combined populations of all Sindarin- or Quenya-speaking Elves remaining in Middle-earth.

Many Elves have left or died, yes, but we're still talking about the Elves of Rivendell and of Lothlórien and all the ones scattered throughout Lindon, combined. If they really are outnumbered by Gondor's ruling aristocracy alone, I think the usual estimates of Gondor's overall population must be far too low. Tolkien simply noted that the population of Minas Tirith and its fiefs (presumably referring to Lossarnach, Anórien etc), while declined from the past, must have still been "much greater" than the combined Elvish populations of Rivendell, Lothlórien, and Lindon. That's not even getting into the more outlying fiefs of Gondor like densely-populated Belfalas.

(Alternatively, you could fanwank that Sindarin/Quenya are more widely spoken in Gondor than this and thus the population disparities, while certainly present, are not quite so extreme as this suggests. But that interpretation does require ignoring explicit statements from Tolkien in a way that something like theorizing population based on vague canonical suggestions is typically going to avoid doing.)

[rohirric-hunter]

I shared this one with the SARC already but I thought I'd also post it publicly, since it's important context for some other things I'm writing. I was gonna clean it up or something but after letting it sit for a couple of months and then rereading it I've decided it's Fine, Actually.

IDK if I'm gonna make a proper fic for Umbar stuff or leave it as a series of oneshots. But I'm gonna start publishing oneshots that may or may not make their way into a bigger fic later.

This is from Hathellang's point of view. Once I publish more related oneshots that will be clearer, which is why I didn't outright state it in the fic itself.

Oh yeah and major spoilers for The Song of Waves and Wind chapter 4.

~*~*~*~

Orgolas looks at King Elessar with wide, shining eyes as he speaks, and you can hear the tremble in his voice. "They called her the Reaper of the Waves," he says, and you cannot help but scowl. You had hoped Nakási could be reasoned with after all, that her oaths of destruction upon Gondor were merely from the grief of her husband’s death -- foolish as it may seem, now. The boy in front of you works his jaw and you kneel, taking one of his balled up fists and pulling him close. He closes the gap between you and hides his face in your cloak as he weeps. You offer no reassurances, for there are few you can give. Thorongil's situation is dangerous, and though you do not know him well, you know that he does not know when to hold his tongue, and is liable to put himself in more danger still. It's a bad business.

Léonys breaks the silence with a sudden whistle. It's the odd, extended trill that she uses to summon her steed Wídethym when she is close at hand, as she is now, waiting with many other steeds along the road north of Iaphel. You look up, trying to gauge her intent, but her face is stony.

It is Elessar who speaks. "Léonys," he says seriously. "What are you doing?"

"I can ride faster than they can row," she says bluntly.

"You cannot face the whole crew alone," Elessar says.

Wídethym arrives at a canter. You have seen many of the great Rohirric steeds bred for battle, but it still unnerves you, the way the creature's nostrils flare at the scent of blood, and the wild look in its eyes, reflecting the fire that still rages in the vineyards on the slopes above. Léonys runs her hand along the side of the horse’s neck as she responds. "No. But their ship must be nearby, and I can follow it. I will mark their course, and leave a trail."

Elessar looks thoughtful. "Very well," he says. "But you are to follow only. You are outmatched against their whole crew, and I would not see you throw your life away rashly. Do not try to rescue the boy."

Léonys hesitates for a moment. It is a moment only, and one who did not know her well would miss it -- but you and Elessar both see it. "Of course," she says, and at the same moment she catches Wídethym's mane in her hand and mounts the steed, turning towards the south.

"Léonys!" you call, and make to stand, but Orgolas has a vice grip on the edge of your cloak, and you sink back to a kneeling position, and run your hand down his back. He is still weeping.

Léonys does not stop, but spurs Wídethym to a gallop, and a moment later even the white of the steed has faded to a glimmer in the darkness.

~*~*~*~

In the grey hours of the morning, Wídethym arrives riderless at the stables of Ost Arndir, dragging a towed peg behind her and with Léonys' bow and quiver hanging among her saddlebags.

[masterelrond]

quick everyone what's your favorite piece of music in lotro??

[morwensteelsheen]

oh also i was in milan for christmas and there were enormous gondor vibes all over the place i tell ya what

[romanceyourdemons]

spaghetti westerns people i need your help. there’s a spaghetti western where a guy is wearing suspenders and a belt at the same time and the villain makes fun of him for it before shooting him in the suspenders and the belt buckle. is this once upon a time in the west (1968). and if not what is it. i had to change my whole outfit today because of that scene and i want to know who to blame

[mithrandirl]

At length they came to the Prince Imrahil, and Legolas looked at him and bowed low; for he saw that here indeed was one who had elven-blood in his veins. ↳ RETURN OF THE KING: THE LAST DEBATE

DOL AMROTH, a princedom on the western coast of BELFALAS in the south of GONDOR

[warrioreowynofrohan]

LOTR Newsletter - September 19

So, what’s happening in the summer before Frodo’s departure?

On June 20th, Sauron attacks Osgiliath; at around the same time, he sends Orcs to attack Thranduil, and Gollum escapes.

From Unfinished Tales, "The Hunt for the Ring":

Now Sauron learning of the capture of Gollum by the chiefs of his enemies was in great haste and fear. Yet all his ordinary spies and emissaries could bring him no tidings. And this was due largely to the vigilance of the Dúnedain and to the treachery of Saruman, whose own servants either waylaid or misled the servants of Sauron. Of this Sauron became aware, but his arm was not yet long enough to reach Saruman in Isengard. Therefore he hid his knowledge of Saruman’s double-dealing and concealed his wrath, biding his time, and preparing for the great war in which he planned to sweep all his enemies into the western sea. At length he resolved that no others would serve him in this case but his mightiest servants, the Ringwraiths, who had no will but his own, being each utterly subservient to the ring that had enslaved him, which Sauron held.   Now few could withstand even one of these fell creatures, and (as Sauron deemed) none could withstand them when gathered together under their terrible captain, the Lord of Morgul. Yet this weakness they had for Sauron’s present purpose: so great was the terror that went with them (even invisible and unclad) that their coming forth might soon be perceived and their mission be guessed by the Wise. So it was that Sauron prepared two strokes – in which many after saw the beginnings of the War of the Ring. They were made together. The Orcs assailed the realm of Thranduil, with orders to recapture Gollum; and the Lord of Morgul was sent forth openly to battle against Gondor. These things were done towards the end of June 3018. Thus Sauron tested the strength and preparedness of Denethor, and found them to be more than he had hoped. That troubled him little, since he had used little force in the assault, and his chief purpose was that the coming forth of the Nazgûl should appear only as part of his policy of war against Gondor. Therefore when Osgiliath was taken and the bridge broken Sauron stayed the assault, and the Nazgûl were ordered to begin the search for the Ring.

Elsewhere the same chapter says:

In the panic of the first assault, when the Witch-king was allowed to reveal himself briefly in his full terror, the Nazgûl crossed the bridge at night and dispersed northwards. Without belittling the valour of Gondor, which indeed Sauron found greater far than he had hoped, it is clear that Boromir and Faramir were able to drive back the enemy and destroy the bridge, only because the attack had now served its main purpose.

And here is Boromir's description of the battle from "The Council of Elrond":

“But this very year, in the days of June, sudden war came upon us out of Mordor, and we were swept away. We were outnumbered, for Mordor has allied itself with the Easterlings and cruel Haradrim; but it was not by numbers we were defeated. A power was there that we have not felt before. “Some said that it could be seen, like a great black horseman, a dark shadow under the moon. Wherever he came a madness filled our foes, but fear fell on our boldest, so that horse and man gave way and fled. Only a remnant of our eastern force came back, destroying the last bridge that still stood amid the ruins of Osgiliath. “I was in the company that held the bridge, until it was cast down behind us. Four only were saved by swimming: my brother and myself and two others…. “…on the eve of the sudden assault a dream came to my brother in a troubled sleep; and afterwards a like dream came oft to him again, and once to me. In that dream I thought the eastern sky grew dark and there was a growing thunder, but in the West a pale light lingered, and out of it I heard a voice, remote but clear, crying: [He then describes the riddle/poem Seek for the sword that was broken]”

(Something I hadn't considered before: Who do you think sent the dream? My guess is one of the Valar, probably Irmo (Lórien).)

A little after, on July 4, Boromir sets out for Minas Tirith, though Faramir was clearly preferred by the sender of the dream.

At the end of June, Gandalf has a sense of foreboding, but does not yet know of the attack; this is what causes him to say tell Frodo, "I am going down beyond the southern borders to get some news, if I can." (He has not heard of the escape of Gollum, as he learns that from Gwaihir during his escape from Orthanc.) As he later tells the Council of Elrond:

“At the end of June I was in the Shire, but a cloud of anxiety was on my mind, and I rode to the southern borders of the little land; for I had a foreboding of some danger, still hidden from me but drawing near. There messages reached me telling me of war and defeat in Gondor, and when I heard of the Black Shadow a chill smote my heart. But I found nothing save a few fugitives from the South; yet it seemed to me that on them sat a fear of which they would not speak. I turned then east and north and journeyed along the Greenway; and not far from Bree I came upon a traveller sitting on a bank beside the road with his grazing horse beside him. It was Radagast the Brown...”

Radagast tells Gandalf that the Nine Ringwraiths have crossed to the west side of the Anduin River in secret, as riders in black, and are riding west, and looking for a land called "Shire". He says Gandalf that Saruman says for Gandalf to come to him immediately if he wants help.

Gandalf tells the Council of Elrond:

“I could not follow him then and there. I had ridden very far already that day, and I was as weary as my horse; and I needed to consider matters. I stayed the night in Bree, and decided that I had no time to return to the Shire. Never did I make a greater mistake! “However, I wrote a message to Frodo, and trusted to my friend the innkeeper to send it to him. I rode away at dawn.”

This is one of the most pivotal moments determining how things go in The Lord of the Rings! If Gandalf had taken one day to ride back to the Shire and warn Frodo to depart immediately, or if Butterbur had remembered to send the letter, then Frodo would have set out in early July, not late September, and reached Rivendell by the road before the end of summer, long before the Ringwraiths reached the Shire. Instead, Gandalf reaches Isengard and is taken captive by Saruman on July 10th, and remains captive until September 18th. Gandalf says:

“Fear was ever in my heart for my friends in the Shire; but still I had some hope. I hoped that Frodo had set forth at once, as my letter had urged, and that he had reached Rivendell before the deadly pursuit began. And both my fear and my hope proved ill-founded. For my hope was founded on a fat man in Bree; and my fear was founded on the cunning of Sauron. But fat men who sell ale have many calls to answer; and the power of Sauron is still less than fear makes it. But in the circle of Isengard, trapped and alone, it was not easy to think that the hunters before whom all have fled or fallen would falter in the Shire far away.”

So why did they falter? And if the Ringwraiths were out of Mordor by late June, why did it take them 3 months to get to the Shire? This is one of the big things that "The Hunt for the Ring" explains.

The Ringwraiths did not know where the Shire was! Gollum, obsessed with the Ring, had managed to lie even to Sauron under torture, and pretend that he thought the Shire was in Wilderland (between the Misty Mountains and Mirkwood), in the area of the Gladden Fields where he had dwelt in his youth. The Ringwraiths went there first, and moving in secret, they only got north of Rohan (The Field of Celebrant) by July 22nd, and then spent much of the summer searching further north to the Gladden Fields and beyond. From "The Hunt for the Ring":

Version A About the twenty-second of July they [the six Ringwraiths of Minas Morgul] met their companions, the Nazgûl of Dol Guldur, in the Field of Celebrant. There they learned that Gollum had eluded both the Orcs that recaptured him, and the Elves that pursued him, and had vanished. [Footnote: He had indeed in his terror of the Nazgûl dared to hide in Moria.]  They were also told by Khamûl that no dwelling of Halflings could be discovered in the Vales of Anduin, and that the villages of the Stoors by the Gladden had long been deserted. But the Lord of Morgul, seeing no better counsel, determined still to seek northward, hoping maybe to come upon Gollum as well as to discover the Shire. That this would prove to be not far from the hated land of Lórien seemed to him not unlikely, if it was not indeed within the fences of Galadriel. But the power of the White Ring he would not defy, nor enter yet into Lórien. Passing therefore between Lórien and the Mountains the Nine rode ever on into the North; and terror went before them and lingered behind them; but they did not find what they sought nor learn any news that availed them. At length they returned; but the summer was now far waned. Version B The account of the vain journey of the Nazgûl up the Vales of Anduin is much the same in version B as that printed in full above (A), but with the difference that in B the Stoor settlements were not entirely deserted at that time; and such of the Stoors as dwelt there were slain or driven away by the Nazgûl. In all the texts the precise dates are slightly at variance both with each other and with those given in the Tale of Years; these differences are here neglected.

By early September, Sauron is very worried and angry indeed; if he was in a Bond movie or the like, he'd be saying "Why am I surrounded by idiots!?"

The wrath and fear of Sauron was mounting. When they [the Ringwraiths] came back to the Wold September had come; and there they met messengers from Barad-dûr conveying threats from their Master that filled even the Morgul-lord with dismay. For Sauron had now learned of the words of prophecy heard in Gondor, and the going forth of Boromir [July 4], of Saruman’s deeds, and the capture of Gandalf [July 10]. From these things he concluded indeed that neither Saruman nor any other the Wise had possession yet of the Ring, but that Saruman at least knew where it might be hidden. Speed alone would now serve, and secrecy must be abandoned. The Ringwraiths were therefore ordered to go straight to Isengard. They rode through Rohan in haste, and the terror of their passing was so great that many folk fled from the land and went wildly away north and west, believing that war out of the East was coming on the heels of the black horses.

So in short, the Nazgul spent most of July and August on a wild-goose-chase thanks to bad information from Gollum. He's a resilient little guy, you got to give him that.

[sotwk]

Social Customs and Faux Pas in Eryn Galen 

Dearest Gentle Reader:

You may have heard rumors about the “dangerous” and "less wise" Silvan people of the Woodland Realm, which conjure images of these native dwellers of Greenwood the Great as uncouth, untamed, or practically bestial creatures. As the oldest and largest tribe of Eldar to continue thriving in Middle-earth even into the Third Age, they certainly started out primitive and crude compared to their High-elven kin, as was their deliberately chosen path. However, many allegations by certain scholars regarding the wildness of the Greenwood Silvans have been exaggerated, and fail to acknowledge the cultural amalgamation that occurred within the first millennium of the Second Age.

Although the Sindar who arrived and settled in Greenwood were enthroned as the ruling lords, in the reunion and mixing of the two cultures, Silvan customs and language were the ones to prevail. Many of the rigid social constructs that governed the Sindar during their old life in Doriath were set aside, departing from what is typically still deemed acceptable and refined by the western cities of High Elves and High Men. 

Differences in social norms that carried through to the Third Age can perhaps be best illustrated by comparing the etiquette observed by the Numenorean descendants in the surviving Kingdom of Gondor, to that of the free-spirited Silvan Elves under Elvenking Thranduil’s rule. 

Below are some examples, written as answers to specific questions asked by one dear friend and a particularly curious Gentle Reader:

Would Silvans laugh at the idea of needing a chaperone to look after an unmarried couple? 

Silvans would most certainly laugh and shake their heads at the notion of a chaperone in any instance. What a most bothersome and inconvenient custom! What sort of calamity is a chaperone expected to prevent by their presence? In Eryn Galen, people of all genders, races, classes, and ages could openly or privately socialize with each other without fear of gossip or scandal. 

Are Silvans just going around holding gloveless hands with each other without a care in the world?

Only soldiers and hunters are known to wear gloves, and as Silvans are fond of physical touch as a show of affection, platonic or otherwise, then it would seem the amount of prolonged hand-holding and skin touching that occurs daily in Eryn Galen would make Gondorians swoon, indeed. At this point, I will refrain from describing the other popular forms of perfectly acceptable public displays of affection, should it prove too salacious for your nerves. 

Is there a socially acceptable way for them to make their intentions known (or to rebuff someone's intentions) during a dance? Or are their dances and parties so informal that they don't really compare to the regency idea of a ball at all?

Silvans absolutely love to dance, and they do so at every single community gathering and celebration. For most of the Second Age, dancing in Eryn Galen was done in groups (lines or circles) rather than with partners. Social dances and balls were not popularized until the Third Age; the marriage of Elvenking Thranduil and Queen Maereth romanticized paired dancing and introduced the concept of balls as a courtship ritual.  

While dancing with someone at a ball is not automatically viewed as romantic, balls are considered more formal events, most often hosted by the Royal Family themselves. They are seen as prime opportunities for unmarried people to socialize with the likely (but not obligatory) intent of romantic courtship and marriage. 

There are no hard rules or timelines to dictate how courtship is done among Silvans. However, it is greatly frowned upon for Elves (or anyone) to toy or trifle with the feelings of another, so romantic desires and intentions must be declared as soon as they are fully recognized in oneself. A ball could be a wonderful romantic setting to do this, but what is considered important is that one must look at the other person in the eye and speak their heart openly and plainly.  If the affections being offered are unwelcome or unreciprocated, then it is the duty of the recipient to gently but clearly rebuff those affections. Silvans are generally unbashful about this, and any shyness they may feel is overshadowed by their sense of honor. 

It must be noted that Elves never rush headlong into marriage, and thus a courtship often outlasts the lifespan of a mortal Man--even the long-lived Dunedain. Therefore, one can only conclude it is illogical to judge the customs of these two races against each other. 

What would be considered scandalous behavior (by Silvans)?

Outside of marriage, Silvans would not frown or judge one another on the quantity or quality of relationships they engage in throughout their long lives. The loose or lacking restrictions against displays of affection or proper public behavior would also indicate that flirtations, dalliances, and other practices that might be deemed promiscuous in Gondor would not raise eyebrows in Eryn Galen. It should also be noted, however, that compared to the race of Men, Silvans are more likely to be bored of or disinterested in sexual liaisons and far less moved by carnal impulses. This alone drastically decreases the occurrences of "scandalous behavior" as commonly defined by puritan society.

Silvans value honor, loyalty, and service to the community above all. Strong marriages and large, happy families are considered the pride and strength of their society, and so they take the commitments to these institutions very seriously.

Once a Silvan elf chooses to marry, they are bound to much stricter codes of conduct. In Silvan culture, the vow of marriage is considered an unbreakable oath, hallowed by the Valar and binding both the fëa and hröa of two Elves together. The commitment to monogamy goes hand-in-hand with an eternal oath to love and care for all children born to or adopted by the married couple.

The highest scandal in Eryn Galen, therefore, is the betrayal of these familial oaths, either through infidelity to one's spouse or the abandonment or estrangement from one's children. Divorce and family feuds remain virtually non-existent in Eryn Galen.

How long would someone's reputation be ruined?

“Ruin” or shunning people is not really something that happens in Eryn Galen. 

An immortal life is too long a time to carry a grudge, or so the wise say. But more than that, the Silvans tend to be a more forgiving and compassionate people, led by a gracious King and Queen who have deep personal experiences with the value of “second chances”. Any wrongdoing, from a minor faux pas to a blatant crime, can be pardoned as long as forgiveness is sought and the proper restitution (as dictated by law of the realm), is delivered. Once a transgression has been pardoned, it is expected for all to “forgive and forget”. Harboring ill feelings or prolonging disputes is considered vulgar and detrimental to the community. 

Banishment, on the other hand, is a rare and extreme punishment issued only by the King himself. It is done to prevent an unrepentant criminal from causing further harm to the rest of the community. 

Thank you to my Gentle friend @scyllas-revenge who sent in this Ask! <3 This was fun!

For more SotWK AU headcanons: SotWK HC Masterlist

Elves HC Tag List: Tags be added in comments temporarily while Tumblr tags are malfunctioning.

[tathrin]

Okay but the Dunedáin. They've been roaming the western wilds for years and years. And then Aragorn goes off and gets himself made king of Gondor, huzzah ring the bells sound the trumpets etc.

But.

The Dunedáin. Do they all go to Gondor with him? I feel like that's the implication of things. But like...do they all want to? And if/when they do, how does it go?

(There has to be a significantly higher number of them than the 30 we see represented by the Grey Company, too, right? Like even assuming the addition of wives-elders-and-children to those numbers, there has to be a much larger population than that if they're maintaining a population. Even with intermarrying of the other locals. Like, even with Magical Noble Lineage going on to keep things from getting wonky, they can't be interbreeding that much or else everybody would be an Heir To The Throne Of Gondor by now lmao. Those 30 have to just be a fraction of their folk. The "good riders and good warriors who could be gathered on quick notice" fraction.)

Is everybody excited to leave their lowkey wilderness-with-the-occasional-vacation-in-Rivendell existence in favor of the Fancy Shiny White City Full Of Other Humans? The Dunedáin have been living like this for hundreds and hundreds of years. It's not just a "we spent a few decades in exile, but taught our kids Our Ways to preserve them, so they'd be comfortable when they went home" situation. They've been living like this for so long that this is their way of life. This is their home. And now they're supposed to just pack-up and go to Gondor and be fine?

And how do the Gondorians react to having not just a new king, but a new king who brings along a whole bunch of scruffy Rangers for his retinue? Are they welcomed eagerly by a people who've just endured great loss of life and need hands to help them rebuild? I mean tbf probably at first, sure; but how long does that welcome endure without starting to cool when these Rangers prove to be not just Gondorians From Elsewhere Who Nonetheless Act Just Like The Rest Of Us And Know Our City And Its Ways As Well As We Do? Because they don't! They don't even know which hall is used for banquets and which for dancing! They don't know that on Aldëa we wear carnë! and so on.

(Do they all just go to Ithilien with Faramir out of sheer what-the-fuck-am-I-going-to-do-in-this-bigass-city-ness?)

Yes they're all of the Blood of Westernesse and all that, shared Numenorian heritage blah blah blah...but imagine you've been living off-the-grid in the forests of Pennsylvania, and all of a sudden you're dropped in the middle of NYC and told this is your home now, enjoy? How weird would that be? How bizarre, how overwhelming?

Maybe you like it, maybe you thrive there! Maybe you find that Gondorian Civilization is what you've been looking for all along! But what if you don't? What if you find you really hate crowds, and the politics of the city are stifling, and you didn't spend the last seventy years travelling all over Middle-earth learning everybody's ways and culture, thanks, and frankly you'd rather be back in Bree making small-talk with simple farmers and Hobbits, where everybody knows your (nick)name and you're comfortable? Even if you do like it, even if this is All Your Hopes Come True, it's still got to be enormously disruptive. And if you don't...yikes.

(Again, sure, there's Ithilien. But even though that wild-land-recovering-from-the-scars-of-the-Enemy would be more familiar ground to you than the city itself, and Faramir is a great guy and all, Ithilien still isn't your home.)

Like...you don't get to just go back, do you? (Do you?) Maybe but even if you do, even if some of them did, their way of life is still kind of broken; because most of your fellow Rangers are in Gondor now, and you aren't even allowed into the Shire, and the Enemy you've been guarding folks from all this time is gone...

And sure, it's good! This is a good result! This is the Best Case Scenario Ending, really!

But still. What about the Dunedáin?

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

Do you know anything (or maybe have some headcanons) about Rohan’s wedding traditions? How do they propose to be married? What kind of wedding outfits do they have? Do they marry for life, or does divorce exist? Thank you so much! I so love reading all your musings about Rohan!

Thanks for this question, and for being so nice! I love to talk Rohan, so I appreciate the chance! ❤️

I’ve actually never written a Rohirrim wedding and there really isn’t anything to go on from the books/lore, either, so I don’t have a fully developed idea of what that would look like.

Off the cuff, I’d say weddings in Rohan probably vary a lot depending on the wealth, status, location, etc. of the couple. Rich people will obviously have a much bigger, more elaborate wedding, maybe with multiple days of feasting and revelry, while a poor couple has a simple ceremony and a little party. Someone from the far western borders might have different traditions, perhaps with some Dunlendish influence as they were direct neighbors and sometimes intermarried, versus someone in the Wold, which is all the way east, extremely rural and sparsely populated. There’s no official religion of Rohan or anything that might have imposed uniformity on all their rituals, so variety is the name of the game. But there would be some common cultural elements, like toasting and poems and songs, etc. All that ceremonial stuff is in the category of things I definitely need to think more about, though I’m also always interested in other people’s thoughts and ideas, too!

For proposals, I think it was a tradition for most of Rohan’s history (something they picked up from the Gondorians) for royalty and nobles to be guided into negotiated marriages that were considered strategically advantageous. (Marrying for love is one of the few privileges of the poor! They could just find someone they liked, decide between themselves that they wanted to marry and then move forward.) Arranged marriage is something I have addressed in my stories. I’ve written about Elfhild growing to love Théoden deeply over time but still always regretting a little that she didn’t get to choose him. Also, my Théodred HATED the idea of being forced into a marriage and held out against it, which is why he was still unmarried into his 40’s. He didn’t live to see that officially change (*sob*), but I think it did. Éomer makes it clear in ROTK that Éowyn consented to Faramir’s proposal — “she grants it full willing” — and if he had learned that personal autonomy was important for her, I think he’d want to give the same autonomy to himself, his children and others in the future.

As for divorce, there’s no evidence for it in canon (and I am CERTAIN that Tolkien would hate it) but I’m a big believer that divorce is one of the most important tools for the protection of women’s interests to ever exist. So I want it in Rohan! I have a tiny piece of a draft somewhere of Éomer’s wife (who is not Lothíriel in my fics, but a daughter of Elfhelm) being left to rule alone while Éomer is away on business in Gondor, and she essentially invents divorce while he’s gone by granting the plea of several women for the dissolution of their marriages to drunken jerks. Even though the husbands complain bitterly to Éomer when he returns, Éomer has learned some stuff through the years and backs his wife’s move. I’m not sure if that little idea will ever make it into a posted story, but it exists not just in my head but on my google drive!

Thanks again for being so kind! And if you or anyone else have creative Rohirrim wedding/marriage ideas, please always feel free to share them with me!

[lotro-tooltips-daily]

[isilwhore]

Isildur and Anárion were borne away southwards, and at the last they brought their ships up the Great River Anduin, that flows out of Rhovanion into the western sea in the Bay of Belfalas; and they established a realm in those lands that were after called Gondor….

In Minas Ithil was the house of Isildur, and in Minas Anor the house of Anárion, but they shared the realm between them and their thrones were set side by side in the Great Hall of Osgiliath.

-J.R.R. Tolkien, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, The Silmarillion

The Life of Isildur: 3/10

[antiracist-tolkien]

Harad Through Fandom Eyes

Plenty of people acknowledge that LOTR's Haradrim, Easterlings and Variags are racist. However, I've seen less discussion about how fandom adds even more racism into the mix. This seems to be mostly because many people have very little knowledge about West Asia and North Africa, aka WANA [Why say WANA/SWANA instead of Middle East?] and what anti-WANA racism looks like.

I'm going to focus on Harad because this is the region that we know the most about. If you need a brief refresher:

Harad, or Haradwaith, is the region south of Gondor. There's a long history of violence between Harad and Gondor which dates back beyond Gondor even existed, to when Numenorians colonised Harad and repressed the people. Since then there were multiple wars and for long periods of time Gondor occupied parts of Harad. The Haradrim fight for Sauron in LoTR, partially due to their hatred of Gondor.

Harad is divided into two. Near Harad is strongly North Africa coded, and Far Harad is sub-Saharan Africa coded.

(Image description in alt text.)

Tolkien uses multiple different names to refer to the people of Harad (Haradrim, Southrons, Swertings, etc.) However, these seem to be the people of Near Harad, who he differentiates from the people of Far Harad. (There's some serious anti-blackness in this next quote, so skip over it if you need to. I only put it here as evidence that the use of Haradrim/Southrons in LOTR refers to Near Haradrim.)

[...] Easterlings with axes, and Variags of Khand, Southrons in scarlet, and out of Far Harad black men like half-trolls with white eyes and red tongues. - Return of the King

There is more to say on this than I would be able to fit into this post. There's a discussion to be had about Tolkien's textual and real life relationship with Black people. There's also a discussion that needs to be had about how Tolkien's racism is often excused with the idea that he was a 'benevolent' or well-meaning racist, a product of his time. It's an excuse that ignores the violence of quotations like this and the way that he wielded his whiteness against Black people in academia and writing.

I don't have time or space for those discussions in this post, but I want to acknowledge them.

What I want to discuss here is fandom portrayals of Haradrim. I'm not going to talk too much about the in-text racism, because that has been extensively covered elsewhere. But in summary:

The idea of the good white guys conquering the lesser brown 'Men of Darkness' is inherently racist

Tolkien's description of the Haradrim, such as repeatedly describing them as a cruel and warlike people, is also racist

The one paragraph where Samwise feels empathy for a dead Haradrim soldier does not lessen the racism.

With that out of the way, let's talk about fandom.

There's a gaping void in the information we're given about the Haradrim, so of course fandom attempts to fill the gaps. Fans often take inspiration from WANA. But many fans don't actually know that much about WANA and don't realise how much of their perception of it is based on racist and imperialist propaganda.

In fannish depictions, Harad all too frequently becomes an exotified fantasy that pulls from Western perceptions of WANA. Orientalist ideals of a mystical, magical, and yet dangerous place predominate the fannish idea of Harad.

The first thing that you should know about WANA is that it's an extremely culturally, religiously and geographically diverse place. If your depiction of Harad is entirely desert, or made of a culturally homogenous people with a narrow range of skin tones and features, you need to expand that. Equally, depictions of Harad as more 'socially backward' than other areas of Middle Earth stem directly from racist propaganda.

Too many stories write Harad as misogynistic and homophobic, often in direct contrast to other areas of Middle Earth. As many WANA people have pointed out, these kinds of sweeping generalisations are often specifically targeted at WANA because of racism.

Mysterious cursed objects from the 'far away lands of Harad', decadent sultans, the fetishization of cultural practices like belly dancing; these are all forms of Orientalism. Female characters may be sexualised, shown as seductresses or members of harems. (By the way, Westerners tend to have a very incorrect understanding of what harems actually are/were. They were the part of a Muslim household reserved for women and pre-pubescent boys. It was outsiders who perceived them as fundamentally sexual spaces and created the modern tropes of sexual harems.)

Male characters may be violent, cunning, greedy, dangerous and strange. There may be public executions and enslaved peoples, regardless of the complete absence of a textual basis. All of these things stem directly from racist ideas of WANA as 'barbaric' and 'uncivilised'.

In fact, Haradrim were once enslaved by Numenorians. They were victims of violent colonisation that continued into the days of Gondor. They have every reason to hate the 'Men of the West' and fight against them.

On a final note, the most major and dangerous WANA stereotype is the portrayal of WANA people as terrorists. This isn't a trope seen in Tolkien's works because it's primarily a post-911 phenomenon. But it's something that you must be conscious of if you're writing about Harad or other WANA-coded regions.

[pilesofpillows]

Won’t You Bring Me Whiskey? || Attoye Drabble || Western AU

Warnings: Hats off to Cowboy Attuma 🤠

Tags: @mamajankyy @xenokattz @tvreadsandsleep @ariyannah @iccedays @blissdoutbyattuma @umber-cinders @mickimomo @dontruinmymorning @princess-of-gondor

“And here I was, thinking you’d forgotten me.”

Okoye acknowledged his presence without ever looking up from the papers strewn across her desk, right where Shuri had said she’d be.

Attuma smiled at her from the post he’d taken up against her office doorframe.

“Darling, I think I could take a hoof to the head and still remember every damn detail about you,” he replied with a soft laugh.

Her writing paused, and she spared him the briefest glance before returning to her work, amusement dancing on her lips. “Flatterer.”

“Maybe so,” Attuma conceded, standing to his full height and flashing her a charming smirk. He strode over to the large oak desk and leaned close enough to smell the lingering scent of orchids and amber on her skin and see the bright glint in her dark eyes, “but never a liar.”

She hummed in response, lips quirking up, and continued her writing. “Staying long?”

The question was a familiar one, and he thought he heard something like hope in her tone. But he ignored it just the same as the pang of disappointment that flashed through him, knowing the answer.

“Just until morning. We leave at first light,” he said quietly, rounding the desk and leaning against it as he admired her. Even after almost a year of this— whatever this was —he still found himself awestruck by her. From the sharp arch of her brow to the wide set of her nose, the deep bow of her full lips and elegant column of her neck, the sleek lines of her collar bones and supple curves of her breasts and hips, Attuma could spend hours cataloging her beauty.

He had.

“Tell me something,” Okoye started as she finished scrawling a few numbers in a ledger and interrupted his musing. “What does it say that your dog found her way here before you did?”

She chuckled at his questioning hum and closed her ledger, storing her pen. Then, she pushed her chair back, nodding to the black-and-white animal napping under her desk.

Attuma glanced down and snorted as Yawri sleepily blinked one eye open. “Comfortable down there?”

She sniffed at him, then crawled from under the desk, yawning and stretching as she went and placed her head in Okoye’s lap, preening as the woman began to scratch her behind the ears.

“You’re an awfully spoiled thing, aren’t you?” Attuma admonished playfully, shaking his head as her tail began wagging from Okoye’s continued attentions. He was suffering from a unique sort of madness where he found himself jealous of his own dog. “but I suppose you’ve got your priorities in order.”

Okoye shot him a dazzling smile lined with mischief. “Why Mr. Almehen, are you implying I’m a priority to you?”

Attuma froze for a moment, biting his tongue to stop the answer from spilling out. She always left him floundering, on the edge of laying out every secret his soul held. Gunfights held less danger, and yet—

His mouth curled into a dimpled grin as he replied, “No need for implication, Ms. Khubana. You occupy every spare thought I have.”

The admission earned him a playful arch of her brow, and she stood after stroking her hand through Yawri’s fur once more. Her eyes remained locked on him, and her skirts swished softly as she danced around the dog to close the short distance between them. His hands moved of their own accord, winding around her waist the moment she was within arm’s reach and pulling her into his chest. Okoye didn’t object; she simply traced her hands up his arms and settled them on his shoulders.

“Every spare thought?”

Her eyes studied him carefully, compelling the answer before there was thought to refuse.

“Mm-hmm.”

She pushed up on her toes, nudging his nose with her own, and something sweet on her breath danced across his lips.

“What about the occupied ones?”

Nimble fingers mapped the veins of his neck before burying themselves in his hair, and his eyes fluttered shut as she began massaging the base of his skull.

“Hm?”

His errant hands tightened around her waist and drifted down to the warm skin of her exposed back.

“Do I occupy your other thoughts? Even the busy ones?”

His eyes shot open, finding hers immediately. Dark eyes entranced and entrapped him, and Attuma drowned in twin pools of brown richer than the ripest cacao.

“Yes.”

His confession was rewarded with a kiss this time, and Attuma found himself uncaring for self-preservation.

Slow and searing, Okoye kissed him until he was drunk with desire and the whiskey that lingered on her lips. He kissed her back fervently, moving his mouth over hers until his mind spun from the lack of oxygen. The hand in his hair tightened as he pulled back, and he cupped her cheek with one hand, resting his forehead on hers as they breathed in tandem.

Orchids. Amber. Whiskey.

Okoye.

He never wanted to leave.

~plus venire~

A/N: I got bored and drunk and I’ve been watching a lot of Yellowstone and this has been in my drafts for… a while. Just a lil bit though I might circle back later... excuse my rambling in the tags

[loremastering]

Alias: Rhovador

Race/Class: Human Champion.

Sexuality: Undecided.

Age: 25.

Residence: Dol Amroth.

Occupation: Former swan knight. Errand boy. Then self proclaimed knight.

---

A hot headed, proud, and willful young man. The air around him could seem to crackle like a cloud ready to hurl lightning. Where and how that lightning strikes however, depends on the individuals and the situations Rhovador faces. His icy blue-grey gaze stare with an unnerving pierce and are perhaps his most striking feature. Boring holes into anyone that receives his attention. He is fit though lightly muscled, old scars dotting his olive skinned complexion. Though all of them seem old on closer examination, as if he knows battle but has'nt seen it in a long time.

Rhovador always felt, metaphorically, too big for where he resided, and he sought for some sort of greater purpose when he came of age. Once Rhovador would practically grovel to any authoritative figure for a chance to prove himself. Nowadays he doesn't throw his respect around lightly, depending on the person and job.

Playful and daring as a youngster, though he worked hard, putting his shoulder to the wheel to become a swan knight, and wore that shoulder to the bone to be in a squadron with his father as captain; an accomplished and respected knight himself. They failed to save Lothgobel in Lamedon when it came under attack from corsairs. Though when his father ordered a retreat, Rhovador disobeyed to drag out a family from their burning home. It wasn't the first time he had done so, but in this he nearly got himself killed. His sire no longer saw him fit for knighthood, and after a fierce argument, Rhovador was demoted to errand boy between the cities of Western Gondor.

Then a man with a host of rangers and the dead arrived to challenge Sauron, and Rhovador desired to travel with his company alongside his sister, who didn't want to possibly lose him to the shadow and his own anger. Together they defied their families wishes and went with the king to Minas Tirith and beyond. One again he took up - though upon himself this time - the armor of the swan knight.