Celebrian's Misfortunes

[Neurion]

Originally Posted by Fordim Hedgethistle

I'm not really sure that Tolkien was being as "indirect" as all that. The euphemistic language he uses in these passages is not perhaps explicit, but I think that it is pretty clear, given the context of his writing. The word "rape" was simply never used in any kind of formal writing until the 1970s and 80s. Even the euphemism which is still a staple in all journalistic writing today, "sexual assault", was not invented until the 1960s. Before then, the only ways to refer to rape that were publishable in any form were euphemisms like the ones used by Tolkien. It worked, because while the writer did not explicitly say "she was raped" everyone knew what was meant when told "she was taken against her will."

Actually, if Tolkien had meant to say so, there are other older terms in the English language to describe that particular crime which were acceptable to use. Tolkien could have just as easily said "Outraged" or "Ravaged" had he meant to tell his readers that Celebrian was mistreated as you suggest rather than using (as he did) the very vague "Torment".