Heyy I saw your post on elves and dwarves having wars during the “dark years” and I was wondering if you could expand on that a little? There might be a ficcy plot=bunny in there for me! 8)

[Here’s the original post, for context] Okay, so my basic argument is that I believe the relationship between the elves of Lorien/Mirkwood and the dwarves of Moria was reasonably violent during the early/middle part of the Second Age (approximately between 750 and 1700, I’d think.) The reasons I think this (aka the minuscule details I’m…

Elves and Dwarves: Alliances

It’s not lore-breaking at all! There have been quite a few elves who developed good relations with dwarves in Middle Earth’s history! Sometimes the relationship was purely business, such as: Thingol hiring the dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost to build Menegroth (though the relationship soured in the end.) Finrod hiring the dwarves of Nogrod and…

This is an excerpt from “The Akallabeth”, part of The Silmarillion. This part tells of Ar-Pharazon and Sauron, and how they rose to power (and how this contributed to the fall of Numenor.) This excerpt was recorded as part of my Tolkien Reading Day 2015 celebrations. You can download the file as an .mp3 here…

This is an excerpt from the historical/linguistic essay “Of Dwarves and Men”, found in volume 12 of The Histories of Middle Earth. This section describes the historical alliance between the Longbeard dwarves and the men of northern Rhovanion. This excerpt was recorded as part of my Tolkien Reading Day 2015 celebrations. You can download the file…

Do you think Erendis was right in her view or Aldarion?

“Aldarion and Erendis” is one of my favorite of Tolkien’s stories because I think it’s some of Tolkien’s best character work – much more than other stories, you get thorough, multi-faceted characterizations for both Aldarion and Erendis. Because you know both characters as individuals, as spouses, as parents, and as leaders, it becomes very difficult…

Oropher and the Battle of Dagorlad

When the Last Alliance was formed, the two major leaders were Elendil (representing men) and Gil-galad (representing elves.) However, there were others who joined the alliance that, while separate people, ended up falling somewhere underneath the umbrella of these two great leaders. The Sindar/Silvan elves of Mirkwood and Lorien are an example of this. Their…

Celebrimbor and the Feanorians

Curufin disowned Celebrimbor? Honestly, it seems like it was the other way around. When Celegorm and Curufin fell out of favor in Nargothrond and were exiled, Tolkien says: Then they took horse and rode away like fire,to find if they might their kindred in the east. But none would go with them, not even those…

Tar-Meneldur: Star Watcher

You know, for all that the elves are beautifully described by Tolkien to have a deep cultural connection to the stars, the only character in Middle Earth that I would really label an astronomer is a mortal man: Tar-Meneldur, the fifth king of Numenor. Tar-Meneldur was actually born “Irimon”, but gave himself the name “Meneldur”,…

Anonymous asked: “Could you maybe outline the history and role of the Elves in the First/Second Ages, if possible, please?”

It’s super super super summarized, and ignores basically all the context and only mentions a couple names, and doesn’t do the story any justice at all, and yet it’s still quite long.

Erendis and Misandry

Ah, Aldarion and Erendis. This is honestly one of my favorite of Tolkien’s stories, so I love talking about it (for those who haven’t read the story, here’s a summary.) When it comes to the discussion of Tolkien and sexism… I think it’s both important and unimportant. Important because much of the story deals directly…