Adoption and Foster Care

[mark12_30]

Bilbo adopted Frodo.

Elrond fostered Aragorn.

First Aunt Beatrice, and then Father Francis, fostered Tolkien.

What other adopted/ foster relationships are there in Tolkien's works?

How do these relationships compare and contrast? How deeply did Tolkien's own experience affect his characters' relationships?

(And if C7A started another thread like this, please link it. I searched, and found not.)

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Thingol and Túrin too.

There was certainly great love in all of these relationships, and they were all beneficial to both parties....I....think? Could argue?

Have any other authors (who never had such experiences as Tolkien) placed as great an emphasis on adoption and foster care in their books? It immediately strikes me as a pretty straight-forward consequence of the author's life.

Interesting topic.

[Bêthberry]

It is an interesting topic, Helen.

There's orphans aplenty in Victorian literature. Pip in Great Expectations for one. Jane Eyre for another. Earlier on, Tom Jones was a foundling. Well, really an illegitimate child abandoned because of the mores of the time. They don't have a very good time of it. except for Tom of course. (I wonder, what 'baggage' does the name 'Tom' carry?)

But then Cinderella was an orphan, wasn't she? or just motherless? Snow White? Could this also be part of the fairy heritage?

[dancing spawn of ungoliant]

Well, Theoden looked after Eomer and Eowyn after their parents died. I think it's touching that despite Theoden had a child of his own, he called Eomer his son (LotR, book 5, ch.5) and probably treated him as one, too. There's also great affection between Theoden and Eowyn. After all, she was ready to die for him. I'd say that Theoden replaced Eomer and Eowyn's parents pretty well.

[mark12_30]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

But then Cinderella was an orphan, wasn't she? or just motherless? Snow White? Could this also be part of the fairy heritage?

Are you using 'heritage' in the literary sense, or, are you speaking in terms of genetics-- changelings, The Great Silkie, etc... or fostering: 'fairy Godmothers'? Interesting possibilities.

"The Fairy Wife" concept is near & dear to me, as is also the Dol Amroth story. I hadn't thought of those connecting with this. (I'm not sure yet if they do.)

[Lalwendë]

There is also the Galadriel/Arwen relationship after Celebrian leaves Middle-earth, which seems to be close between grandmother and grandaughter. It is interesting how all these relationships are positive when often literature, films and particularly TV soaps often exploit the vulnerability of the 'orphan'. This might be more understandable in older literature as such situations would be a lot more common and the official support netwroks did not exist as they do today (though they still leave much to be desired sadly).

It's not something I had particularly noticed before, but now I've thought about it, Tolkien does have a very positive outlook on such relationships. It could of course be simply a necessity in such societies that children left alone are cared for, or that it might be difficult for a figure such as Aragorn's mother to bring up a child in the wilderness; it could be sheer practicality. But there do seem to be a lot of these rleationships in the books, so it's likely they are a reflection of Tolkien's own upbringing.

[Elrowen Tinúviel]

Didn't Maglor look after Elrond and Elros for a time?
I forget the exact situation... been a while since I read the Silmarillion.

Elrond also helped raise Arathorn II as well as Aragorn, right?

-Elrowen

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

But there do seem to be a lot of these rleationships in the books, so it's likely they are a reflection of Tolkien's own upbringing.

I don't mean to discount your conclusion, but I do wonder what conditions we assign or ascribe to autobiographical impulses. I mean, I know that there is a profound link between the author and his writing, but I sometimes think we too quickly or easily assume that correlations are causations.

Other than the similar presence of the trope of orphans and foster care, what evidence is there that this would be derived from Tolkien's own experience?

I don't ask to be curmudgeonly but because in my reading of writers' letters and relations with other writers I have found that the autobiographical impulse is rarely so directly or openly satisfied. It is usually far more complex and hidden. I mean, it is interesting that Tolkien associated himself with Faramir, the younger brother, yet he was the older brother in real life. And we all know what happens to the older brother.

Loss of parents at an early age is profoundly unsettling for a child's development. We know that Tolkien had a very close relationship with his mother through their mutual faith. And we also know that to some extent he harboured regrets at the role his guardians played in his love affair with Edith. Yet Edith too was similarly orphaned, was she not? Does that explain why both Aragorn and Arwen were motherless at the time of LotR? Or does it perhaps provide a wider way to explore a variety of issues about character, loyality, motivation? And is fostering that is blood-based more successful than fostering that is assumed without blood ties?

Changlings and selkies, Helen I think Tolkien has omitted from his perilous realm. Why?