Aaaahhhhh I don’t think I have the brainpower rn to really explain exactly why I like them so much, except that I love everything about their coloring and their sense of atmosphere and place, their general vibe, how they give off a simultaneous air of being very artistically modern art in the true conceptual sense and of being very old and strewn with minor cues that ping as vaguely ancient. I love Tolkien’s sense of space and the feeling that he knew EXACTLY what he was looking at inside his head and believed in its existence and knew what it was supposed to feel like. Some faves:
Also, this week in our ongoing series “Marta queues a post, forgets about it, sees someone react to it after it posts, and only then realizes she has something to say”:
Read the Letters. Read the letters, children, because this successful Oxford professor is such a dweeb, down-talking his own art and having let’s just say some overly strong feelings about certain art, getting upset when early drafts or even finished works were shared wit third parties and sent to his publishers without his consent (reblog-don’t-repost if ever there was one).
Plus you get the joy of his editor hounding him for the long overdue intro to Beowulf which anyone who’s ever run or participated in an exchange will appreciate (“Sir, at this point I would gladly accept your shopping list, just give me *something*.) Then there’s the rather epic takedown when a WW2-era German publisher asked if he was of Jewish ancestry. The version he actually sent is lost to time, but the one his editor held back is hiLARious.
There’s also some pretty serious misogyny and low-grade racism, so you have to look past that. Not for everyone one that count. But not only is it fascinating with the canon tidbits he gives readers (Lalia! Denethor!), but as biography it’s just so charming. If you want a treat, dig through the discussions between him and his publishers over Hobbit illustrations. So much fun.
Seconded. 🙂 @marta-bee The German Nazi publisher actually asked Tolkien (who had German ancestors; his name comes from German *tollkühn*) to provide a so-called “Ariernachweis”, proof that he was of “Aryan” ancestry, without it The Hobbit was not to be published in Nazi Germany. Tolkien had some choice words to say about that. The Hobbit was only published in Germany in 1957.
Good catch. I’d point out Tolkien himself read the question both ways (or at least made hay of the ambiguity):
I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by arisch. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people. My great-great-grandfather came to England in the eighteenth century from Germany: the main part of my descent is therefore purely English, and I am an English subject – which should be sufficient.
Of course, it’s the sass rather than the specifics that are most important here, I think.
🙂 I didn’t mean to catch you at a mistake. It just always feels like such a vivid detail of what was happening in Germany, that even a British author like Tolkien was asked to provide an “Ariernachweis” to be able to have a children’s book published that it struck me. Of course, almost all German authors had to provide the “Ariernachweis” to be able to publish in their own country. Tolkien’s letter draft bears to be fully quoted as it poignantly expresses his sentiment in regards to Nazi Germany even before WWII:
… which should be sufficient. I have been accustomed, nonetheless, to regard my German name with pride, and continued to do so throughout the period of the late regrettable war [WWI], in which I served in the English army. I cannot, however, forbear to comment that if impertinent and irrelevant inquiries of this sort are to become the rule in matters of literature, then the time is not far distant when a German name will no longer be a source of pride. [Letter 30, 25 July 1938]
feanorians as rated by the ambarussa, as rated by which ones teach them to drive worth a fuck:
maedhros: 7/10. like yes he may have taught them most besides their parents, and have lots of ‘this dump truck will crush your car’ wisdom but he doesn’t get 10 points, because he doesn’t let them go fast. rude. killjoy. mom poseur.
maglor: 4/10. surprisingly impatient. has a sexy car but they’re not allowed in it. gets some points because the sugar baby jokes are some of their best material, and threatening him with joyrides produces surprising amounts of tractability.
celegorm: 9/10! hell yeah! he takes hangover naps in the backseat. they drove him to the space needle once. doesn’t get 10 points bc he only owns a motorcycle himself and it’s surprisingly hard to get ahold of nerdanel’s car. also rude.
caranthir: 5/10. doesn’t teach anything per say but its fun to watch him yell at other drivers. a good way to kill an afternoon. will let them in the car but not the front seat.
curufin: 0/10. they asked him ‘oh you don’t still have a permit?’ and now he just says no. #worth it.
nolofinwions as rated by argon, as rated by the same
fingon: 6/10. like??? fine I guess. a greater chance he’ll eventually say ‘gun it’ for some fucking reason, as opposed to his parents.
turgon: 1/10. STOP PULLING THE MOTHERFUCKING EMERGENCY BRAKE.
aredhel: 15/10. she let him do donuts in a field at ten years old and they haven’t looked back, only around, for narcs. so, turgon.
arafinwions, on trial and prosecuted by galadriel:
finrod: 5/10. a fairly responsible driver; possessed of some nuggets of skill she might not have otherwise learned without time and experience.
Lobelia: I’m Lobelia Sackville-Baggins and I want to see Frodo!
Sam: never heard of you *slams door*
Sam, to Frodo: I panicked 😦
*
Merry: do you have an appointment?
Lobelia: what no
Merry: ahh. bad luck then.
*
Fatty: Frodo who?
Lobelia: Frodo Baggins!
Fatty: never heard of him
*
Merry: sudden onset smallpox
Lobelia: I don’t believe you
Merry: bet your life?
Lobelia: …….
Lobelia: *hastens down garden path*
Merry, calling after her: I’m immune! 🙂
*
Pippin: Fatty sat on him by accident and squashed him flat and now he’s dead
Lobelia: I can see him through the parlour window.
Pippin: ….DAMN IT
*
Fatty: yes hello I am Frodo
Lobelia: no you’re not, you’re Mr Bolger
Fatty: ………………no I am Frodo Baggins and this is my hole
*
Sam: he’s having a nap
Lobelia: well wake him up this is important
Sam: absolutely not
*
Pippin: he’s dead again
Lobelia: no he isn’t
Pippin: one of these days it’s going to be true and then you’ll be sorry
*
Fatty, holding out a fistful of teaspoons: p-please……. just take them…… take them and go….
Lobelia: I’ve never been so insulted in all my life!!
Lobelia: *snatches teaspoons and power walks away*
*
Frodo, deadpan: oh I’m sorry Frodo isn’t in, can I take a message? 🙂
Lobelia: I-
*
Lobelia: Can I speak to Frodo
Merry: no. *shuts door*
Lobelia: is Frodo in?
Sam: you know what….
*Frodo jumps out a window and runs to Buckland*
he just left.
When Frodo first started telling them to ‘get rid of Lobelia’ he meant like, politely but when he realised they were doing this instead he kept asking them to get rid of her to see what they’d come up with next
the best thing at the Tolkien exhibit was the letter from the publisher’s reader who first encountered the silmarillion and had no fucking clue what he was dealing with and was just like “I don’t know if this is a genuine medieval text… I consider myself fairly well read but like, it’s some Celtic shit, I don’t know anything about that… it’s probably real and I haven’t heard of it. Anyway it’s a bit crap”
he liked the prose but was just so unimpressed with the poetry, it’s savage
“would there be any market for a long, involved, romantic, romantic verse-tale of Celtic elves and mortals? I think not. Especially as this particular verse is of a very thin, if not always downright bad, quality”
like tell us how you really feel
and then he compliments the prose but continues:
“all this is gone in the verse version: the action is gone, the primitive strength is gone, the clear colours are gone. The tale is spoilt; the tinkling verses go on – and on, conveying almost nothing. On that count alone I am afraid this is not even worth considering”
wow
I was quite fond of the letter from his publisher’s kid (?I think) reviewing the early chapters of LOTR that was basically like ‘it’s a bit slow but the Ringwraiths are super cool’
Yeah it was like “bit too much talking, maybe too many hobbits, love the evil guys tho”
Love that honest feedback
also very fond of the fan letter that’s just like ‘I’ve never read any of your work but I gather you stole my name please explain yourself sir’
The one that really showed Tolkien’s dedication to Middle Earth was that tiny scrap of paper calculating how long it would take a hobbit to walk a league/mile/whatever fantasy term for distance he used
Like dude, that’s next-level worldbuilding
but did he have to base his system of measurements on a hobbit’s toenail
surely
SURELY there was something else it could’ve been based on
hard agree I don’t like thinking about hobbit toenails
This is a character I don’t understand how he doesn’t have more love in the Tolkien community. But if you don’t know who he is;
“Rúmil, most renowned of the masters of the lore of speech, first devised letters and began recording in writing the tongues of the Eldar and their songs and wisdom.” – Morgoth’s Ring, The Annals of Aman
To say the least, Rúmil was a loremaster of the Ñoldor and fashioned their first alphabet, the Sarati. He also wrote the Ainulindalë, which is the first section of the Silmarillion that describes the creation of the universe, alongside the Valar and the Maiar.
He was also stated to have once been a slave under the tyranny of Morgoth, but managed to escape. He kept account some of the greatest accomplishments of his people and was said to possess many followers of his own and even Fëanor looked upon him as a figure of authority.
It is also stated through the History of Middle Earth that Rúmil created numerous maps and resources of the geography of Middle Earth, and his reasons for even writing the histories was not merely to immortalize the tale but also strive to authorize the truth.
To say the least, Rúmil is almost the incarnation of the Silmarillion and Middle-Earth itself, as well as a mimicry of Tolkien’s character.
Such is a reason Rúmil of Tirion is one of my most adored characters of the lore and it’s a shame he’s so often passed over in comparison.
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