expertsofarda

[expertsofarda]

Longer than 3-month update

Hey peeps! Long time no see. You may have noticed the 3-month updates go away; that's because real life got to us. Updates are now gonna be every 6 months. Submissions are always open, and feel free to ask questions!

Mod Blue

[expertsofarda]

@feanorionrage is excited to talk about locations in Tolkien's works, and has been to Tolkien's real-life locations in England! (Asks are open!)

Canon locations

@anipologist, our resident Arafinwean lover, can tell you all about Nargothrond (Asks are open!)

@ellrond is quite passionate about the history of Rivendell and Lorien  (Asks are open!)

@felixwhetsel has an interest in Beleriand and has knowledge about the locations and cities that cropped up, especially Elven societies (Asks are open!)

[expertsofarda]

@feanorionrage will be able to help with any questions with timelines across Arda's ages! (Asks are open!)

Timeline

@anipologist is very knowledgeable about the first age and specializes in the events surrounding Finrod and the Lay of Luthien. (Asks are open!)

@ellrond can help with primarily the Second Age, but can also help with placing characters, such as Elrond or Gil-Galad, within the timeline (Asks are open!)

@hellofeanor has a big passion for timeline reconstruction! They will be able to help reconstruct Tolkiens canonical timelines or help create realistic timelines for other projects! (Asks are open!)

[expertsofarda]

@feanorionrage can help with the family tree of the Noldor, the Kings of Numenor and their descendants, the Chieftains of the Dunedain! (Asks are open!)

Family Tree & Lineages

@arya-durin-51 is really good at keeping track and creating family trees and lineages! (Asks are open!)

@feanoriansappreciation is really enthusiastic about family trees and would be happy to help! (Asks are open!)

[expertsofarda]

Hi there! I'm interested in adding my info to the crafting section-

@aro-kai

I knit and crochet and weave, but primarily I'd love to help with spinning and fiber preparation knowledge--eg, getting from fiber to yarn/string/rope to finished product. I can provide help and info on how to extract fibers (eg cotton fluff fibers or bast fibers or double-coated goats or shearing sheep), general uses of different fiber types, and where they more commonly grow. I spin a LOT, and I have experience spinning a lot of different fibers.

I'm familiar with a variety of spinning and fiber processing tools and techniques, and I can be particularly helpful for info on spinning without a "modern" flyer-bobbin wheel (whether that's with an old fashioned spindle wheel, a fancy drop spindle, absolutely nothing but what tools you can find on the ground, or even just your bare hands). I know wheels too, but I use them way less--I have an old one that I've been fixing up off and on for a few years now, though, so I'm happy to talk about the varieties and parts and functions of modern wheels and how they compare to spindles in function and finished product. I love fiber arts history especially, and I can provide info on how some techniques were developed, where they're most common, /why/ different techniques are common in different places, and so on.

My weaving knowledge is less in-depth than spinning--I'm limited by space and expense, unfortunately--but I'd be thrilled to help with any related questions! I've been working my way into tablet weaving, and I'm happy to report that I don't fully understand it (yet!!!) but I can Absolutely consult on how to do it for belts and such. I also can provide some consult on knotwork and ropes, including both some general sailing/rescue/forestry knots and more...rope on the body implications. I can help compare the relative handfeel and compression of different ropes, different fiber compositions, braided vs twist, rope treatment/handling, and so on.

I'd always be DELIGHTED to screen fic for fiber arts info, since I know we do have a few places (miriel miriel miriel my heart <3) where that's DEEPLY relevant. Literally any ask on these--Tolkien related or not!--would totally make my day. Every day I wake up and think about fiber lol (I like to joke that I have one interest (tolkien) and one hobby (fiber) and I'm always always thrilled to talk about either of them). Hell, even if you just want info on how to get started trying spinning for very cheap, I would be thrilled to help out.

As a note, I'm not any sort of technical "expert" on such things (my degree's actually in physics), but I've been spinning for half a decade and am currently steadily burrowing my way into the local weaver's guild!

Added to Crafts!

Mod Blue

[expertsofarda]

@aro-kai knows quite a bit about spinning and fiber prep! They can answer questions about spinning tools and fiber tools used to process fiber, including non-modern tools. They also love fiber history, and would love to discuss techniques across time and the world, regardless if you're a Tolkien-fan or not! If you have questions about ropes or knots for sailing, hunting, use on body, rescue, or forestry, or even if the questions about ropes are more fiber-related, they can help. Knitting, crochet, or weaving (specifically Tablet-weaving) are open for discussion as well! If you need someone to review your fic regarding fiber art information, Aro-kai is more than delighted to help! (Asks for both Tolkien and Non-Tolkien are open!)

Crafts

@actuallyfeanor will be able to help with sewing, embroidery, knitting and crochet!! (Asks for both Tolkien and Non-Tolkien are open!)

@alienfuckeronmain can help with tattooing!  (Asks are open!)

@anipologist  is a “dilettante dabbler in calligraphy and (fictional and real) heraldry” and can help you with those sorts of topics! (Asks are open!)

@jaz-the-bard can help you with sewing and fashion, especially embroidery! (Asks are open!)

@lottiefairchildbranwell is able to help with dressmaking and embroidery, especially cross stitch! (Asks are open!)

@seleyin‘s job is printmaking and etchings, so they can help you if you have questions about how people could easily reproduce images, text or music, machinery, chemical use, etc., In a medieval/renaissance setting! (Asks are open!)

@soup-enthusiast will be able a great help about handicrafts and a great place to find resources about handicrafts! (Asks are open!)

@tethysresort is able to help with all kinds of dye work and dye patterns! (Asks for both Tolkien and Non-Tolkien are open!)

[expertsofarda]

No new submissions. If you'd like to contribute some of your expertise to the Tolkien community, feel free to send us a message!

Mod Felix

[expertsofarda]

If you’re still taking submissions:

I am very well researched in ecology and geography of Arda, on what plants are canon, and what could grow or thrive based on plant communities, ecoregions, etc

I also have researched infectious diseases and have written metas on potential illnesses throughout Arda

-@outofangband

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[expertsofarda]

Hey!

I wanted to add my input to the list if possible?

I'm more than happy to help with:

Timelines of Arda (all ages)

Family trees specifically of the Noldor, Kings of Numenor and Chieftains of the Dunedain.

Canon locations (I can travel/ have travelled to Tolkien locations within England and will be visiting his grave again in Spring)

And I'm open to any asks, yes! I mean, anything to do with Tolkien's works I'm open to research and answer with enough time to read through all my books :)

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[expertsofarda]

Up to date as of 12/31/23!

Happy New Year!

-Mod Blue

Welcome to Experts of Arda!

This is a directory of Tolkien fans who are interested in using their specializations and knowledge to help YOU write and worldbuild!

Need help conjugating Quenya? Want a second opinion on how textile trade might work between Himring and Doriath? Not quite sure how to best work mass-produced literature into a multi-chapter epic about the Second Age?

Someone here might be able to help!

Topics (Up to date as of 11/01/22)

Occupations

Medicine

Science + Math

Writing Help + Beta Readers

Linguistics + Languages

Books + Passages

Dwarves

Diversity

Geology

Crafts

Recreation + Music

Elves

Archaeology + Anthropology

Names + Character Creation

Family Trees + Lineages

Canon Characters

Canon Locations

Hobbits

Timelines

Miscellaneous

You can find a Q & A here!

Interested in adding your information?

Send us an Ask with the following information:

Name:

Topics that you’re willing to help with (please be as detailed as you can!):

Are you willing to answer inquiries about Tolkien and/or Non-tolkien Asks?

We accept outside resources too!

So if you find a concept artist or costume designer or papers you think we should add, submit it to us and we’ll add it to the topic tag :) When you do reference outside links, please no pinterest or any sites like that; we want to correctly credit the original!

Mod Team:

@bluedancingkittykat & @felixwhetsel

[expertsofarda]

Hey! Are there blacksmiths in your story? I'm a hobbyist blacksmith and I'm here to help!

Blacksmithing is one of those things that a lot of people get wrong because they don't realize it stuck around past the advent of the assembly line. Here's a list of some common misconceptions I see and what to do instead!

Not all blacksmiths are gigantic terrifying muscly guys with beards and deep voices. I am 5'8, skinny as a twig, have the muscle mass of wet bread, and exist on Tumblr. Anybody who is strong enough to pick up a hammer and understands fire safety can be a blacksmith.

You can make more than just swords with blacksmithing. Though swords are undeniably practical, they're not the only things that can be made. I've made candle holders, wall hooks, kebab skewers, fire pokers, and more. Look up things other people have made, it's really amazing what can be done.

"Red-hot" is actually not that hot by blacksmith terms. when heated up, the metal goes from black, to red, to orange, to yellow, to white. (for temperature reference, I got a second degree burn from picking up a piece of metal on black heat) The ideal color to work with the metal is yellow. White is not ideal at all, because the metal starts sparking and gets all weird and lumpy when it cools. (At no point in this process does the metal get even close to melting. It gets soft enough to work with, but I have never once seen metal become a liquid.)

Blacksmithing takes fucking forever. Not even taking into account starting the forge, selecting and preparing metal, etc. etc. it takes me around an hour to make one (1) fancy skewer. The metals blacksmiths work with heat up and cool down incredibly fast. When the forge is going good, it only takes like 20 seconds to get your metal hot enough to work with, but it takes about the same time for it to cool down, sometimes even less.

As long as you are careful, it is actually stupidly easy to not get hurt while blacksmithing. When I picked up this hobby I was like "okay, cool! I'm gonna make stuff, and I'm gonna end up in the hospital at some point!" Thus far, the latter has yet to occur. I've been doing this for nearly a year. I have earned myself a new scar from the aforementioned second degree burn, and one singe mark on my jeans. I don't even wear gloves half the time. Literally just eye protection, common sense, and fast reflexes and you'll probably be fine. (Accidents still happen of course, but I have found adequate safety weirdly easy to achieve with this hobby)

A forge is not a fire. The forge is the thing blacksmiths put their metal in to heat it up. It starts as a small fire, usually with newspaper or something else that's relatively small and burns easily, which we then put in the forge itself, which is sort of a fireplace-esque thing (there's a lot of different types of forge, look into it and try to figure out what sort of forge would make the most sense for the context you're writing about) and we cover it with coal, which then catches fire and heats up. The forge gets really hot, and sometimes really bright. Sometimes when I stare at the forge for too long it's like staring into the sun. The forge is also not a waterfall of lava, Steven Universe. It doesn't work like that, Steven Universe.

Welding and blacksmithing are not the same thing. They often go hand-in-hand, but you cannot connected two pieces of metal with traditional blacksmithing alone. There is something called forge welding, where you heat your metal, sprinkle borax (or the in-universe equivalent) on it to prevent the metal from oxidizing/being non-weldable, and hammer the pieces together very quickly. Forge welding also sends sparks flying everywhere, and if you're working in a small space with other blacksmiths, you usually want to announce that you're welding before you do, so that everyone in a five-foot radius can get out of that five-foot radius. You also cannot just stuck some random pebbles into the forge and get a decent piece of metal that you can actually make something with, Steven Universe. It doesn't work like that, Steven Universe.

Anvils are really fucking heavy. Nothing else to add here.

Making jewelry is not a blacksmithing thing unless you want jewelry made of steel. And it will be very ugly if you try. Blacksmithing wasn't invented to make small things.

If there's anything here I didn't mention, just ask and I'll do my best to answer.

[expertsofarda]

No New Submissions

3 months update!

For future submissions, please send an ask or reply to this post or this post. I can no longer see my activity feed further than a month back, so if there's any submission in the tags or comments, I can't see them for these quarterly posts. I'm narrowing it down to those three ways for submission so I don't have to go through every post.

If you have previously submitted your EoA info, but have not seen it posted, please resubmit or reach out to me @bluedancingkittykat :)

[expertsofarda]

No new submissions

Here's the 3 month update! (it's really 4 lol)

Hopefully there'll be new submissions soon ^u^

[expertsofarda]

Updated our master post! We still are open for submissions, though posts will continue to be about 3 months apart. Take care til next time! ^^

[expertsofarda]

Welcome to Experts of Arda!

This is a directory of Tolkien fans who are interested in using their specializations and knowledge to help YOU write and worldbuild!

Need help conjugating Quenya? Want a second opinion on how textile trade might work between Himring and Doriath? Not quite sure how to best work mass-produced literature into a multi-chapter epic about the Second Age?

Someone here might be able to help!

Topics (Up to date as of 11/01/22)

Occupations

Medicine

Science + Math

Writing Help + Beta Readers

Linguistics + Languages

Books + Passages

Dwarves

Diversity

Geology

Crafts

Recreation + Music

Elves

Archaeology + Anthropology

Names + Character Creation

Family Trees + Lineages

Canon Characters

Canon Locations

Hobbits

Timelines

Miscellaneous

You can find a Q & A here!

Interested in adding your information?

Send us an Ask with the following information:

Name:

Topics that you’re willing to help with (please be as detailed as you can!):

Are you willing to answer inquiries about Tolkien and/or Non-tolkien Asks?

We accept outside resources too!

So if you find a concept artist or costume designer or papers you think we should add, submit it to us and we’ll add it to the topic tag :) When you do reference outside links, please no pinterest or any sites like that; we want to correctly credit the original!

Mod Team:

@bluedancingkittykat & @felixwhetsel

[expertsofarda]

@outofangband is well researched in the ecology and geograpgy of Ard

a, such as what plants appear in the legendarium and where they could grow! (Asks are open!)

Science & Math

@actuallyfeanor‘s day job is medicine and biomedical science, and is happy to answer questions about what would be a medically plausible cause of death or present crack theories on how exactly elven biology works. Also has a fair amount of knowledge about maths, physics and chemistry. (Asks are open!)

@ambarto is a student in geology and is currently working through Tolkien-centric geology articles to figure out how Arda’s geology might work. (Asks are open!)

@bluedancingkittykat  can help with Geology (Asks are open)

@lemurious is a professional space biologist and  would be happy to help with explaining the biology, engineering or cosmology aspects of world-building as internally coherent science (Asks are open!)

@lottiefairchildbranwell is currently finishing a Masters in Maths, teaching myself meteorology, can do physics and chemistry. (Asks are open!)

@maglor-still-lives has some knowledge of statecraft, ecology, horses, and genetic engineering. (Asks are open!)

@nuredhel’s a forestry, wildlife and wilderness manager (Asks are open!)

@silmallyrn has a lot of weird sciency thoughts about The Two Trees, The Music of the Ainur and what it is/ how it works/how elves can hear and use it, and wonky elf biology/physiology. (Asks are open!)

@snoodly-boop is a geologist in training, (”If you need me, @/ me, because I don’t get notifs for asks”)

@stareyemoth is an actual eyeball expert but not in like a Sauron worshipping way (Asks are open!)

@tethysresort knows about geology and gardening (including weird stuff like greenhouses and aquaponics) (asks are open!)

@the-unicorns-of-nienna  special interests is zoology. “If you’re trying to figure out what Hobbit livestock breeds look like, or what kind of birds could thrive in Mordor, I might be able to help.” (Asks are open!)

@theresonlyzuul is  an entomologist and have 10 years experience working in natural history museums (Asks are open!)

[expertsofarda]

@outofangband has an interest in disease and illnesses in Arda! (Asks are open!)

Medicine

@actuallyfeanor‘s day job is medicine and biomedical science, so I’m happy to answer questions about what would be a medically plausible cause of death (Asks are open!)

@nuredhel knows about how plants were used for medicine back in the days (Asks are open!)

@the-quiet-fire-of-defiance can answer questions about medicine & healing, chronic illness & disability. (Asks are open!)