Tolkien Studies
On Writing Aman, or the Balance between the Mythic and the Real
Published on 6 March 2017 | Essay
Fantasy writers, including creators of Tolkien-based fanworks, have long struggled to depict the "otherness" of realms like Aman. In the past, the Tolkien fanfiction community showed a preference for an idealistic portrayal of Aman that left little room for imperfection. My work has long taken the opposite approach, and in this essay, I argue for the artistic need and canonical basis for grounding stories set in Aman in a more recognizable reality of human experience.
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Genre: No genre listed.
Characters: Fëanor
Pairing: No pairing listed.
Caranthir the Slandered: Narrative Bias, Cross-Cultural Alliances, and Fëanor’s Angriest Son
Published on 26 July 2018 | Essay
Caranthir is relentlessly described in The Silmarillion as dark and harsh and haughty, yet these descriptions bear little resemblance to his actual deeds. Instead, I argue in this essay, Caranthir serves as one of the rare cosmopolitans of the Noldor and is deliberately cast by the Silmarillion's pseudohistorical narrator as a foil to the equally cosmopolitan Finrod Felagund in order to elevate the reputation of the latter.
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Genre: No genre listed.
Characters: Caranthir, Elu Thingol, Finrod Felagund, Pengolodh, Turgon
Pairing: No pairing listed.