lomion

[lomion]

Turgon and Maeglin sharing stories of Aredhel to deal with the loss

[lomion]

:)

[lomion]

Good evening, cadets! Have a sample of jonahscottva’s rendition of The Sky’s Tears! This, among many other outstanding tracks, will be available in the OST reward for the AOSLA Kickstarter.

[lomion]

Tolkien’s narrative didn’t treat those who suffered from great physical and mental trauma kindly. As always Tolkien's’ works are a product of the time, and the understanding of mental health in his days were hellish to say the least.  The reoccurring theme within his works of those tormented is often bleak. You’re either avoided at all cost, given a shoddy narrative, or sent away.  In some of Tolkien’s cases, torture usually entails an unfortunate ending for the victim. 

I mean think of the elves who were tormented by Morgoth, and by some chance returned to elven society. There’s Maeglin, Maedhros, and Gwindor just to name a few.  

And I mean in Maeglin’s case he was disturbed before he encountered Morgoth when he left Gondolin, and the narrative for reasons still worked against his favor.  And Maedhros ends up committing suicide in the end, so we can say he seemed “alright” when he got back from the cliff (idk how to spell the name), but obviously he wasn’t. And it can be argued that the Silmaril burning his hand caused it but we know that wasn’t the only reason.

I’m not even gonna discuss Gwindor because I mean.  Then there’s the notion that if you’re tortured or tormented, you have to be sent away. Frodo and Celebrian…to Valinor. I’m not saying that Valinor isn’t good for them, but i’m not saying it’s a utopia for those who’ve sustained great emotional, physical, and mental strain.

And in Tolkien’s time, the mentally ill were usually sent away and dealt with in places where those who weren’t dealing with mental illness didn’t have to think about them. They were put away so other people could live “normal” lives. And these places were in no way qualified to treat them, but society thought they were. They believed they were.

And then there’s Miriel. Like? I’m sorry all parties involved in that were wrong, except Miriel. I just think it’s funny how folks couldn’t wait for her to heal, especially considering they were immortal. But when she doesn’t work, they send her away. When she can’t heal faster enough and have more children, they send her away, pretend she doesn’t exist, and replace her.  And everyone who played their hand in that is guilty, everyone. Except Miriel (and Feanor). But that’s not the point of this post, but it does open the door to Feanor too, and the untreated trauma he dealt with his entire life that went unchecked and essentially threw him off the rails. 

How he was essentially expected to move on just like his mother, while they were both equally damaged. 

Also look at Turgon, who understandably sustained some form of PTSD and paranoia, considering that he balled his people up. When he crossed the ice and lost his wife, you realize why he acts the way he does.  His narrative isn’t exactly the best, because his methods of protecting his people were god awful and akin to a tyrant, and his trauma is no excuse but it’s why he did it. And that’s not good.  His trauma plays a hand in him doing very questionable things. 

It’s just concerning how the narrative treats those who suffer from trauma, especially in times of war.

And i’m sure i’m missing some people because it’s late, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about, and will probably solidify in the next week or so when I’m able to think straighter. 

And I don’t mean to offend Tolkien, who was no doubt a sufferer of PTSD himself, but  I won’t deny that he’s  a product of his time, and that his narrative reflects that in almost all areas. 

There’s just this general misunderstanding of what to do to people who suffer so much it renders them unable to “fit” in. Do we send them away to a place that’s notorious for kicking people out? Does their suffering promise them a life of hardships and even more trauma? 

And I do appreciate that this is his way of coping with what he saw in the war, but i’m not saying it’s free of criticism either. 

And honestly I didn’t intend for this to get this long, but i just find it strange how the narrative treats those who’ve suffered so badly. And i don’t actually find it strange I find it understandable given the time, but upsetting nonetheless. 

Arda really could’ve benefited from a good counselor.