LotR book meta

[SoundingShores]

Greetings everyone! I'm not sure if this is the right section of the forum to post this, I'm sorry if it isn't. Marileangorifurnimaluim told me you guys might be able to help me.

I've been reading a lot of Tolkien's writings lately (fiction and non-fiction, Legendarium-related or otherwise), and it inspired me to start writing meta on character motivations in LotR. It's just a fannish essay I'd like to post online, but I'm looking for someone who would be willing to beta-read it. It's multichapter, but it's OK if you can't commit to the whole thing. I've only got a draft of the first chapter right now. I don't have a posting schedule, so there's no time pressure or anything.

I'd love feedback on things like internal consistency, whether it's possible to follow the train of thought etc. Also, I try my best, but I'm not a native speaker of English, so SPAG help would be greatly appreciated as well. Obviously, I'd give full credit for the help.

If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them (I'm on Discord, if that's of interest). Cheers! ;)

[Mithadan]

We'd be glad to look at your essay and I invite anyone else that might be interested to reply as well.

[Mithalwen]

I would be interested certainly,though you may get offers from better qualified candidates.

[SoundingShores]

I would be interested certainly,though you may get offers from better qualified candidates.

Thank you for your kind offer! I'll write you a private message!

Many thanks to anyone else who considered it too; for the moment, I'm good, but I'll keep you guys updated!

[SoundingShores]

Hi everyone!
I finally posted the first chapter, I'll drop a link here in case anyone's interested: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61412107/chapters/156980866

I would be interested certainly,though you may get offers from better qualified candidates.

Thank you for your kind offer! I'll write you a private message!

Looks like I can't message you here due to exceeded storage space, but feel free to shoot me an e-mail!

[Mithadan]

SoundingShores' essay is really well thought out and well-written. Truly worth a read. Thanks for linking it here.

[SoundingShores]

Hi All!

Thank you to everyone who checked out the first chapter! I posted the second here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61412107/chapters/160330999

It's about Éowyn and her character arc and how Anglo-Saxon culture influenced Tolkien's portrayal of Rohirric characters.

Hope you like it!

[Bêthberry]

I've just now finished the first chapter. Really thoughtful work and considered analysis. I wouldn't call this a "fannish essay" at all.

I do, however, have one question. I don't see any named discussion of Tolkien's essay "Ofermod" which accompanies "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's . I don't have your edition so I cannot check the endnotes to see if you are referring to it in your discussion of Northern courage, but I wonder why you don't formally mention the essay.It is quite a significant essay since it opened to interpretation the meaning of "oftermod" in the 'Maldon' poem in Old English studies.

I hope I'm not being pedantic!

[SoundingShores]

I've just now finished the first chapter. Really thoughtful work and considered analysis. I wouldn't call this a "fannish essay" at all.

I do, however, have one question. I don't see any named discussion of Tolkien's essay "Ofermod" which accompanies "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's . I don't have your edition so I cannot check the endnotes to see if you are referring to it in your discussion of Northern courage, but I wonder why you don't formally mention the essay.It is quite a significant essay since it opened to interpretation the meaning of "oftermod" in the 'Maldon' poem in Old English studies.

I hope I'm not being pedantic!

I'm glad you enjoyed the analysis! :)

In the copy I have, "Homecoming" is both the title of (i) the poem/play specifically and (ii) the entire work that was published in Essays and Studies, which has three parts, the second of which is the poem and the third is the essay titled Ofermod. I cited "Homecoming" as the overall title for all three parts, but you're right, it would be more precise to also indicate which part of the work I'm referring to (all three come up at various points). I'll add this later. (Regarding the translation of the ofermod line in particular, I wrote a little bit about this under footnote 17, but I'm no Old English scholar, so I couldn't go into it too deeply.)

Anyway, thanks for reading and commenting!

[SoundingShores]

Hi Everyone,

I posted the third chapter, it's about Denethor and can be found here for anyone interested: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61412107/chapters/162711493

Writing this got me thinking about parental and filial love in the Legendarium in general. I feel like these forms of love get a bit shafted in Tolkien's writings, which is very strange, considering he wrote some of these stories for his children (and other stories too, like his Father Christmas letters).

But parents in Tolkien often seem to exist mainly to provide lineage to a character (Arathorn, Celebrían) or to be romantic obstacles (Thingol). Romantic love, friendship and a kind of "brotherly" love for other people save the world in Tolkien, more or less. But on the topic of parental love, we've got things like Arwen "losing all that she had gained" before her death, which is a neat concept, except she's got at least three living children! This seems to treat romantic love as a lot more important than parental love.

Arguably the most prominent example of parental love is Denethor, and that's obviously a much more complex and less idealized depiction than many of the love stories and friendships. The more positive parental examples are often not biological parents and so they are kind of a mixture between parent, friend and mentor, like Bilbo to Frodo. There's Elrond, but his parental love also doesn't get that big a role. Ironically, the only time I felt like Tolkien is drawing on his parental experiences was Gimli's line to Pippin: "I love you, if only because of the pains you have cost me."

Or on the topic of filial love, there's Fëanor's sons, also not exactly an idealized depiction compared to, say, Beren and Lúthien.

But then I'm not as knowledgeable about the Legendarium as many others, so I might be missing a lot. What do you guys think?