#that Galadriel gives to Frodo

[rotationalsymmetry]

"Tolkien does not write conventional heroes and the Lord of the Rings is a powerful statement about how all power corrupts" is a decent first order approximation, and it's certainly closer to that than a generic power fantasy action movie.

It's not fully accurate though. The Ring does not represent all power -- powerful items in the wider Legendarium are generally dangerous, but not necessarily uncomplicatedly bad things, and some powerful things like the two trees are uncomplicatedly good things. The Ring is a specific powerful item made by a vicious Maia that causes harm because that Maia crafted it with his ill intent and will to dominate. It doesn't represent power in general.

But there is a very strong general theme of wanting power over others -- mastery -- being a bad thing. While acting out of pity, in the sense of being moved to act towards the common good, is elevated as a good and important thing. Basically, "I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people", except on the form of several books trying to explain just that. (And I'll count the hobbit in that -- it's a simpler adventure story, but not without a great big "hey maybe you can put aside your greed-based petty squabbles with basically good people in order to deal with the real enemy for a minute?" at the end.)

But there's also just a whole lot of people being messy. Feanor sucked and his oath was a terrible idea, and obviously the downstream effects of the oath were morally heinous and pragmatically disasterous -- except that the oath and Feanor wanting his special gems back is the only reason the Noldor were in Belariad in the first place, and the Noldor were the only ones mounting an effective resistance against Morgoth that wasn't just holing up in a walled kingdom and everyone outside your borders (including all the humans) fends for themselves. If they weren't there, presumably Morgoth would have ended up dominating the continent much sooner and enslaving and torturing more people. Whereas the sensible elves that stayed behind got to enjoy, effectively, their gated community while the world outside burned. So. It's complicated.

[rings-of-power-realm]

Gather Your Strength

x

[cicelythereaper]

Why are you staring at me? You are an intriguing creature, Frodo Baggins. Musical!verse. The Fellowship leaves Lothlorien, and Frodo and Galadriel must part. If only parting were as simple as it sounds.

a fucked-up little frodo/galadriel vignette in honour of georgia louise's fantastic performance as galadriel in the lotr musical

[mistofstars]

I just have to rant about Boromir again.

In FOTR (movie), he is *so compassionate* and considerate! It makes me feral.

When Gimli kneels in front of Balin's grave and cries, it's * Boromir* who walks up to him and touches his shoulder to comfort him

Jumps with Merry and Pippin over the gap of the staircase

When Frodo sees Gandalf fall, it's Boromir who holds him back from doing anything stupid and running towards danger

Again, outside of Moria, it's Boromir who stops an infuriated Gimli from running back into the mine and prevents him from doing something stupid.

Also, when Aragorn tells them to get up and move on, Boromir wants them to have a moment to grieve

In Lothlorien, when Haldir stops the company, Boromir is the only one consoling Frodo and tells him not to give up hope after Gandalf's death which is actually quite insane because

Later on we learn that Boromir himself has given up hope (for Gondor) when he talks to Aragorn about what Galadriel has told him

So there we have a stout warrior who takes care of others, encourages them, comforts them, despite his own darkness and doubts.

Ergo = my poor little heart.

I wish Boromir would have lived to see Gondor at peace and experience a different life than war, alas 💔

[thesummerestsolstice]

The voyage west at the end of Return of the King is extremely funny to me, because just look at who's on board. You've got:

Frodo Baggins, hero of the Shire, in need of healing but also excited to see Valinor and meet the legendary elves who live there, a gentle soul

Elrond Halfelven, as kind as a summer, looking forward to peace west of the sea, probably wants to go chill out in a cottage with his wife for the next thousand years

Which seems fine. And then we get to everyone else.

Gandalf, cheeky bastard who's gotten so used to being a weird old wizard in Middle-Earth that's he's forgotten what Maia are supposed to act like, will immediately cause problems

Bilbo Baggins, noted storyteller, definitely planning to break into Aule's halls to see his dwarf friends, will ask all the elves weird questions and then sing about their lives and deaths in front of them, will immediately cause problems

Galadriel, who came to Aman half for Celebrian and Elrond's sake and half to taunt all her cousins about being the only one of them to survive the First Age, enjoys causing problems, will immediately cause many problems

(Also, to be clear, these are not three isolated problem-causers, they absolutely spent the entire trip to Valinor actively planning to give Amanyar society and the Valar an aneurysm.)

I just love the idea of Elrond, now reunited with Celebrian, and Frodo happily having tea with Elwing and Earendil, with nothing to interrupt them but the gentle sounds of the tides.

Meanwhile Galariel, Bilbo, and Gandalf are collectively bullying Mandos into releasing Maglor Feanorian from the halls because:

Bilbo wants to read him his translation of the Noldolante, which is written as a cheery Hobbit drinking song

Elrond always complained about how Gandalf and Maglor were both insufferably vague about advice and Gandalf needs to make sure he's more infuriating than Maglor as a matter of his wizardly pride

He still owes Galadriel money

[hes-a-plant]

Rewatching the part of FOTR where they’re in Rivendell and I noticed a few things:

We all joke about Elrond being super done with Gandalf after he recites the ring’s inscription in the Black Speech. But fun fact, if you pay attention you can actually see Elrond facepalm at this point. He is so done.

A bit after Frodo wakes up, we get a look at his bed. There is a statue of a winged elf(?) carved into the headboard. Elwing??

The pedestal that the ring is on? Fëanorian star carved into it.

I need Elrond’s shirt. The embroidery is so perfect.

Hobbits have gorgeous shirts made of linen (? That’s what it looks like, at least)

The collar of Sam’s shirt is clearly hand stitched, a neat detail separating him from the other hobbits, as the only working class one!

It is all the rage for elves to wear horrible velvet cloaks.

Boromir’s collar at 1:40:16. Wow? What? It’s very cool. He also has some very neat clasps that have the tree of Gondor on them!

At 1:42:05, there appears to be another Feanorian star on the ground surrounding the pedestal that the ring is on

There are lots of elf statues surrounding the Council of Elrond. I can’t make out anyone specific, but I’d be curious if anyone else can.

Legolas really likes jumping up and yelling at Boromir, lol

Wow, it looks like the number 8 is a recurring motif in Elrond’s decor. I wonder what that could mean. That’s certainly not a meaningful number at all.

Gandalf is really just wearing rags, huh. I’m glad Galadriel ends up giving him new clothes, but he could have used some a bit sooner.

While Frodo is staring at the ring, the black speech inscription is echoing in the background! Never noticed this before!

Elvish shingles are shaped like leaves

“On you who go with him, no oath nor bond is laid to go further than you will” and cut to Aragorn, who gives a grim smile to Arwen. Hmm. This one could be a stretch, but wouldn’t those two have grown up on tales of Oaths-Are-Bad?

Right as Frodo is walking through the gates of Rivendell, there’s a statue. Again, I don’t know if it’s supposed to be anyone specific, but one of y’all might be able to identify it.

Unfortunately it wouldn’t let me screenshot anything so I can’t share pictures

[theglassofmiddleearth]

Imagine you enter the woods of Lothlorien with the Fellowship.

Gimli: Stay close, young hobbits! They say a great sorceress lives in these woods. An Elf-Witch.

Y/N: *Smirks* Of terrible power?

Gimli: Tis no joke m'lady. All who look upon her fall under her spell.

Galadriel: *Telepathically* Frodo..

Gimli: And are never seen again.

Y/N: Do not fear little ones. We will keep you from harm.

Samwise: We should be saying that to you Y/N.

Galadriel: You're coming to us, is as the footsteps of doom.

Galadriel: *Telepathically* You bring great evil here. Ring bearer.

Sam: Mr Frodo?

Gimli: Well, here's one dwarf she won't ensnare so easily. I have the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a fox.

The elves of the Lothlórien woods appears with bows.

Y/N: *Unsurprised* Is that right?

Haldir: The dwarf breathes so loud, we could have shot him in the dark.

Y/N: *Stifles a chuckle*

They walk to Lórien

Haldir: *In elvish* Well met, Legolas son of Thranduil.

Legolas: Our Fellowship stands in your debt. Haldir of Lórien.

Y/N: Yep, I love it when he speaks elvish. *She smiles down at the hobbits.*

Haldir: Ah, Aragorn of the Dúnedain. You are known to us.

Aragorn: Haldir..

Haldir: Pethryn.

Y/N: *Nods silently.*

Gimli: So much for the legendary courtesy of the Elves. Speak words we can all understand.

Y/N: *Grins* They are greeting eachother. Be patient my friend.

Haldir: *In the common tongue* We have not had dealings with the dwarves since the Dark Days.

Gimli: And you know what this Dwarf says to that? Ishkhaqwi ai duru- (I spit upon your gra-)

Y/N: *Stops Gimli with her hand and gentle taps his shoulder.* Now now Gimli.

Aragorn: That was not so courteous.

Haldir: *Turns to look at Frodo.* You bring great evil with you. You can go no further.

Aragorn: *In elvish* We need your protection, the road is fell. Please we need your support.

Legolas: Y/N, you understand Sindarin?

Y/N: What, me solving the riddle wasn't enough for you? *She grins*

Aragorn: *In Elvish* I wish we may come with you. The road is very dangerous Haldir.

Boromir: Gandalf's death was not in vain. Nor would he have you give up hope. You carry a heavy burden Frodo. Don't carry the weight of the dead.

Haldir: You will follow me.

They travel to Caras Galadhon.

Haldir: Caras Galadhon.

Y/N: The heart of Elvendom on earth.

Haldir: Realm of the Lord Celeborn and of Galadriel, Lady of Light.

Y/N: *Smirks to Aragorn.* I get to see the pretty elves again.

Aragorn: *Rolls his eyes*

Legolas: *Mutters* Am I not a pretty elf?

Y/N: *Laughs* You are the prettiest of all elves Miluir ("Lovely one" in Sindarin)

Legolas: *Gapes in surprise.*

Y/N: *Chuckles and walks away.*

Legolas: Wait! What did you just call me? Say it again!

[velvet4510]

Y’all, I love Samwise Gamgee. He is loyalty incarnate, stout-heartedness incarnate, purity incarnate, love incarnate. I would die for Sam. I would do anything for Sam. Just as any of you would. Please bear this in mind before you read on.

Y’all need to stop claiming that Sam is “immune to the Ring.” He’s not. Besides Tom Bombadil (who is an entirely different kind of being), NOBODY is immune to the Ring. Not even the purest of heart are immune.

Gollum and Boromir are the most obvious examples of this, but it applies to everyone.

Gandalf isn’t immune to it. That’s why he refuses to take it from Frodo; he knows what it would do to him.

Galadriel isn’t immune to it. She gives the same reason.

Faramir isn’t immune to it. He gives the same reason.

Yes, some people are able to resist it better than others can.

Look at Bilbo managing to give it up.

Look at Frodo, one of the most pure-hearted characters in the book, winning the battle against it until the LAST possible moment, holding out ALL the way to Mordor until he reaches the one place where he has no chance, where the Ring’s victory over his exhausted mortal will is inevitable.

But they’re not immune.

And Tolkien makes it quite clear that Sam isn’t immune either.

He devotes whole passages to Sam’s temptation by the Ring, his visions of power and glory, of turning Mordor into a garden. But it’s not just that.

Between Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam, it’s quite clear that the Ring’s first course of action in preying on its bearer is making them want to put it on. Reaching into their mind so that their first direct course of action to handle a situation is to put it on. This is what Sam does not once, but twice. The second time is after the Orcs have already gone, and nobody can see him anyway. He has no need to put the Ring back on, but he does.

Then, multiple times, he offers to carry it for Frodo. Yes, this is born from concern for Frodo’s burden, but this is exactly what the Ring is using. The Ring is whispering to him, “save him from the burden, save him from the burden, take me for yourself, take me for yourself.” And Sam falls for it. The Ring uses the bearer’s greatest fears and desires to carve a path in their mind that leads them toward the thought of claiming it. It uses the same tactic on Frodo. By the time they’re in Mordor, Frodo is fully aware of what the Ring is doing to him and doesn’t want it to destroy Sam like it’s destroying him. This is his heart’s reason for demanding the Ring back from Sam and refusing to give it up again. Then the Ring twists this in Frodo’s mind to make him think it’s because he wants it for himself. This is exactly what it would’ve ultimately done to Sam if their roles were reversed.

I do think the fact that Sam’s time as Ring-bearer is so brief does cause it to have a lesser impact on him overall, especially compared to Frodo. But, my dear friends, he’s not immune. And there’s nothing wrong with admitting that. Loving Sam as a character should not be equivalent to putting him on a pedestal and thinking he’s somehow above the canonically-indomitable will of the Ring. Tolkien wrote a lore and created stakes that are quite unique in that there’s no “exception” among our mortal protagonists. None of them are immune to the power of a Dark Lord. That doesn’t make Sam any less pure, or Frodo any less pure. It’s just a canon fact.

And it makes me love both of them even more. They both are vulnerable to its power, but both resist it as far as anyone possibly could because of the power of their love.

[frodolover]

this is something i have seen surprisingly little about, but sea-longing is a fascinating concept to me and frodo is my favorite character so i want to examine it.

sea-longing aka the unquiet of ulmo is of course what is experienced by elves when they are being called back over the sea to valinor. legolas experiences this in lotr. and sea-longing is not so much about the sea itself than it is about what awaits across it: valinor.

this obviously affects elves because they're the only ones permitted in valinor. however as we know, frodo sails there at the end of lotr, though he's not an elf, but a mortal. however i think it's very clear that frodo experiences sea-longing despite this.

in valaquenta, it's stated that ulmo loves both elves and men (of which hobbits are a branch of) and that from his horns music plays and "those to whom that music comes hear it ever after in their hearts, and longing for the sea never leaves them again." additionally, these horns are "wrought of white shell," and in "the sea-bell/frodos dreme," it states: "i walked by the sea, and there came to me, / as a star-beam on the wet sand, / a white shell like a sea-bell; / trembling it lay in my wet hand". the connection between the white shells stands out to me, as these white shells are from where ulmo's music and source of sea-longing come from. (and whether or not frodo is the author of the poem, it's undeniably about him)

now here we come to the text in lotr. in book i, chapter v, frodo's journey has barely begun, but he has a dream about the sea, and a "great desire" to see it. it's also mentioned that the sound of the sea "often" troubles his dreams, so this likely started even before this.

the second time frodo dreams is when he is in the house of tom bombadil, in book i, chapter viii (first pic). while it doesn't directly mention the sea, we know the sea and valinor are connected. this is especially notable because the dream frodo has here is shown to have come true, almost word for word, at the very end of rotk when he sails to valinor (second pic, from book vi, chapter xi).

i don't have much to say about this one, but in book ii, chapter vii, frodo actually sees the sea, rather than hearing it, for the first time in galadriel's mirror:

much later, when frodo believes the ring is lost and the quest has failed, he says this (book vi, chapter i):

"only elves can escape. away, away out of middle-earth, far away over the sea"-- i love this line especially with the knowledge that frodo does get to "escape" over the sea, like the elves. and like the elves, he is experiencing this sea-longing, this call to the undying lands already.

i think this is all very, very interesting, because it seems that frodo's fate is sealed as someone who can't exist in middle-earth anymore rather early on in his journey. the idea that elves are the only ones permitted in valinor is also interesting because, while frodo is a mortal, he is described as having an "elvish beauty" and "elvish air," he is named an elf-friend, and he has a lifelong interest and love for elves, and knows a bit of elvish. also, arwen gives frodo the evenstar as this symbol of him being able to take her place on the ship to valinor that she forfeits. his connection to the elves, and therefore to valinor, is there from the beginning.

[lesbiansforboromir]

In a BoromirLives fanfic, Faramir must be forced to confront this line of his in particular; Whether he erred or no, of this I am sure: he died well, achieving some good thing. His face was more beautiful even than in life. It's vital to me that this is addressed. Because in Tolkien beauty is holy, they are intertwined inextricably, the holy will be beautiful.

Boromir did not live a beautiful holy life according to most, his life is not spoken of with uncomplicated worth by any but Denethor, Eomer, Theoden and Pippin (all either 'simple' or outwardly rebellious against god). But he did die a beautiful holy death, it is what most people praise him for and in Faramir's mystical dream where he sees Boromir's dead body floating down the river, this is his reaction. Boromir's corpse was more beautiful than his living body, because in death he was 'redeemed' and served his purpose in the great holy plan. He 'died well'.

This is horrifying right? It horrifies me when I read it. And I think it so concisely reveals how Faramir and many others viewed Boromir. I am essentially here to argue that this is all about piety, once again, yes I'm a one track record.

Gandalf, when hearing of Boromir's death from Aragorn, declares; It was a sore trial for such a man: a warrior, and a lord of men. Galadriel told me that he was in peril. But he escaped in the end. I am glad. It was not in vain that the young hobbits came with us, if only for Boromir’s sake.

Now, what is Gandalf saying here? Boromir did not escape, he died. Does he mean he escaped corruption? Well, no, since apparently this 'escape' had something to do with Merry and Pippin and Boromir shook off the pull of the Ring long before he was sent to find them. What role did Merry and Pippin play in this 'escape'? Well, Boromir died for them, he had too, there was no other way out of that ambush. So by process of elimination the only thing the 'young hobbits' did that was 'for Boromir's sake' was... to be there so he could die for them, right?

And remember, his death did not actually save them or really help in any way, the hobbits are still taken and the Uruk-hai's downfall has nothing to do with Boromir. In fact Aragorn squandered any time Boromir might have given him to catch up to the Uruk-hai by spending hours on his funeral. So, the death alone is what is being called 'good' here, what is beautiful. Boromir dies and that is beautiful and something to be glad for, according to Gandalf and Faramir.

But why do they think this? Faramir has his 'alas for Boromir, whom I too loved' and Gandalf laments 'poor Boromir', so they have at least some pity for him. What was 'good' to them about Boromir dying? Well we all know this one don't we, it's the accepted narrative of it all, Boromir 'redeemed' himself with this deed. He tried to take the Ring, and for this crime he needed redemption that he gained through vainly giving up his life to try and save Merry and Pippin.

But, in fact, Boromir himself has a slightly different way of phrasing it. Boromir says, of his own death; ‘I tried to take the Ring from Frodo,’ [-] ‘I am sorry. I have paid.’

He paid for it. To Boromir, in this cosmic exchange, he chose wrongly and paid for the offence with his death. This wasn't redemption, it was spiritual commerce, crime and punishment. Which is a perspective that once again demonstrates Boromir's enduring lack of 'faith' or spirituality. The powers of the west and Eru may exist, but they exist to him as forces of nature, some fact of the world we all must just live with, not something that fills him with hope or brings him nobility or meaning or a 'higher purpose'. Boromir does not want to be closer to divinity, he does not want to be beautiful or noble, he wants his people to be safe.

But of course, this is entirely opposite to Faramir's perspective, and if not downright heretical then at least unfaithful. So, when alive, Boromir cannot achieve 'beauty' in Faramir's mind, because he is unfaithful. It is only when he is dead, when 'fate' draws him into this spiritually good 'end' that sees him give up his life for a holy quest, when Boromir's life is no longer defined by him but by his death, that he can be beautiful.

And bringing this all the way back around, there are two ways you could do this in a boromirlives fic. Either, Boromir comes back but he does not look like he did in Faramir's dream. He did not pay, he is still alive to define who he is and Faramir finds himself slowly drawn into this terrible psychological horror as he realises he misses his brother's death more than he missed his actual brother.

Or Faramir needs to be confronted with a brother who looks dead to him. Boromir has come back and to Faramir's eyes he looks exactly as he did in the dream, but now this corpse moves and speaks and can no longer be confined to one perfect conceptual moment. And this also horrifies him. It is for authors to decide if this is just an aspect of Faramir's perspective, or if Boromir actually 'came back wrong' as it were, he did pay but somehow he came back anyway.

[shirefantasies]

Heyo, saw ur requests were open and wanted to send smthn in!!

Was hoping u could do LOTR characters x crush reader who’s generally pretty outgoing and chill? Maybe gives a lot of casual compliments, kind of jokingly flirting and makes a lot of horny™️ jokes. Still like, more serious when need be but tried to be lighthearted

Also if u want more specific characters then just Legolas, Merry and Pippin would work :))

LoTR Characters Reacting to Their Flirty Jokester Crush

(Old request! Requests still temporarily closed)

Doesn’t say much, but they have a lot of thoughts: Aragorn, Frodo, Arwen, Elrond

(Character).exe has stopped working: Sam, Faramir, Eowyn

Gives it right back: Legolas, Boromir, Gimli, Pippin, Galadriel

“Cut that out” (secretly enjoys it): Merry, Eomer, Haldir

Aragorn mostly just grins or shakes his head in amused exasperation at you. Especially if you choose to make jokes at people who are particularly stoic, like Haldir or Eomer. He'll do the same if you make those jokes directly to him, simply grin down at his pipe or the sword he is cleaning and chuckle. On the inside, though? A part of him wants to tackle you then and there, but of course that is simply your manner... right? Frodo always gives a charming little look of surprise before glancing away. If you are close enough, you might see the flush that rises to his fair cheeks. He bursts into a smile and a faint chuckling breath and if he is not the recipient he glances toward your target, especially if your joke is particularly scandalous. His head is rushing with questions: do you mean it? Are you hiding something beneath your jokes? Why do you make them more often to him? Arwen always offers you a wide grin, sometimes even a playful swat to your shoulder or elbow if you are in her father or grandmother's presence. Occasionally she may even ask what they are to do with you, but when she is alone, the only company her own, she cannot stop the rush of thoughts about your words. Do you really think so, then? Perhaps she should offer you some encouragement at your next meeting... Lord Elrond has seen much in this world, too much to be shocked though he can shake his head at your marked lack of decorum. A thrill still runs down his spine, though, at the way you gently touch him, your whispers and devilish grins, and a tentative smile rises to his lips even as he shakes his head at you. Try as he might, Elrond simply cannot shake off the thoughts that rise to his head, the images your words conjure. He fears that soon he will simply give in entirely, and such a thought does little to quell the anticipatory shivers.

The parting of Sam's lips, the widening of his lovely green eyes, even the subtlest flex and release of his nervous hands, all make your manner beyond worthwhile. It only makes you smile wider how surprised he is, especially when he tells you not to tease so and you ask him who's teasing? There's no mistaking the way his cheeks redden at that! The brief rise of Faramir's eyebrows is all his expression betrays as it remains neutral, pondering, peering at you with interest as if he is waiting for you to continue or letting you try again. Whether that spurs further comment by you or lets you simply escape and breeze away with a mischievous smile, you can decide, but know that the moment you look away Faramir's facae completely collapses, your effect irresistible. No one has made comments so directly to Eowyn before you, your words freezing her in a smile and sending her beautiful blue eyes searching yours as she chews her lip half pensively, half at the rise of other thoughts. She is not your sole recipient and yet she feels desired by you. What a delicious thought. Could you mean it?

Legolas skips not a single beat before the perfect retort falls from his rising lips. You return with another comment and he steps closer with yet another reply. The others, especially Aragorn, are shaking their heads at you, Merry and Pippin grinning widely and elbowing each other at your antics. Boromir grins at your words, trying his best to fluster you with comments equally scandalous right back. The smile rarely falls from his face in your presence and he takes to teasing you, even playfully taking and hiding your things to get your attention. Holding them up high hoping you'll stand against him to reach for them. Sometimes he simply calls out your jokes as soon as you've made them, telling you you clearly have a lot on your mind or even outright asking why you are thinking so. Gimli bursts out into devilish, triumphant laughter at your jokes and always seems to have something to add. He’ll tell you you’re absolutely filthy, and the wild look in his eyes and wide upward quirk or his lips assure you this is a compliment. Whenever he catches that look of mischief in your eyes, he nods and provides you with ample encouragement no matter the target. But especially if it is mischief directed toward Legolas or Aragorn or one of your many scandalous compliments directed his way. Puffing out his chest, he takes it with relish. Rather than use his words, Pippin returns your jokes with acts of his own, always being the first to laugh and pull you into games, dances, and pranks with Merry. He replies with a lot of ‘oh yes?’ and small encouragements, especially to your saucier quips. In addition, he wants to be the sole recipient so he will try little things to get your attention and always be around you. Challenge is presented by none other than the Lady Galadriel, who does far more than smile or dismissively shake her head at your comments. Rather she will dare you to put your proverbial money where your mouth is. “Oh, would you really?” “Why do you not demonstrate, then?” Most often you hear these words inside your own mind, looking over to see her giving you what outwardly looks like a friendly smile, but you catch a different glint in her eyes.

“If you keep that up, you’ll disturb his stance.” Merry appears to be chastising you, but you can see by his smile and the sparkle of his gaze upon you that that is far from the truth. Rather he challenges you to see if you truly can disturb Pippin and Boromir’s training. He asks you what you think you’re doing when you play footsie with him by the fire or whisper puns that would make a grown hobbit blush when opportunity avails, but you notice how his smile never falters. You never thought you would see Eomer, marshal of the Riddermark, flustered and lost for words, that stoic exterior finally cracking, but your first pun that such words as you heard were usually spoken in bed have him speechless for a moment. Finally he speaks, telling you this is no time for jokes, but you catch the faintest smile playing into his lips from the shadows of his helmet as he turns away. In fact, the next time you nudge him and fidget at his side, he simply butts you with his shoulder back. Similarly, Haldir also bids you hold your tongue, but the raise of a single blonde brow he gives you is anything but quelling. In fact, all it speaks to you is intrigue. You feel him stiffen when you teasingly grab his hands and you see his eyes fixate firmly upon your lips when you make a suggestive comment. He starts sitting closer to you, legs resting warmly adjacent to your own thighs, and tentatively returning your gestures like nudges. Absolutely still shuts down ‘in bed’ remarks in front of the others, though. Decorum and all.

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[roselightfairy]

Real Legolas stans can give you a baffled half-hour outburst about how we don't understand why the HECK Legolas was given all these increasingly ridiculous and absurd stunts in the movies while his single, beautifully-written, traditionally heroic (and much more plausible) moment was omitted entirely.

Legolas laid down his paddle and took up the bow that he had brought from Lórien. Then he sprang ashore and climbed a few paces up the bank. Stringing the bow and fitting an arrow he turned, peering back over the River into the darkness. Across the water there were shrill cries, but nothing could be seen.   Frodo looked up at the Elf standing tall above him, as he gazed into the night, seeking a mark to shoot at. His head was dark, crowned with sharp white stars that glittered in the black pools of the sky behind. But now rising and sailing up from the South the great clouds advanced, sending out dark outriders into the starry fields. A sudden dread fell on the Company.   'Elbereth Gilthoniel!' sighed Legolas as he looked up. Even as he did so, a dark shape, like a cloud and yet not a cloud, for it moved far more swiftly, came out of the blackness in the South, and sped towards the Company, blotting out all light as it approached. Soon it appeared as a great winged creature, blacker than the pits in the night. Fierce voices rose up to greet it from across the water. Frodo felt a sudden chill running through him and clutching at his heart; there was a deadly cold, like the memory of an old wound, in his shoulder. He crouched down, as if to hide.   Suddenly the great bow of Lórien sang. Shrill went the arrow from the elven-string. Frodo looked up. Almost above him the winged shape swerved. There was a harsh croaking scream, as it fell out of the air, vanishing down into the gloom of the eastern shore. The sky was clean again. There was a tumult of many voices far away, cursing and wailing in the darkness, and then silence. Neither shaft nor cry came again from the east that night.

Also, when I was first reading these books, I was going really really fast and I missed the couple of mentions of "Legolas and Gimli are friends now, isn't that weird?" and so I do believe THIS was the scene that bowled me over and strapped the goggles to my face:

'Praised be the bow of Galadriel, and the hand and eye of Legolas!' said Gimli, as he munched a wafer of lembas. 'That was a mighty shot in the dark, my friend!'   'But who can say what it hit?' said Legolas.

[verecunda]

No, Charles Edwards Isn't Too Old to Play Celebrimbor, Actually: a sourcebook

Apparently this particular wank is going around again, and people are trying to frame it as an issue of fidelity to the source material (again), so I decided to round up some references to the physical appearance of certain Elves in the books.

Before we even begin, I'm going to point out that there are literally no physical descriptions of Celebrimbor in canon. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. So you could cast literally anyone and it wouldn't ~break canon~. But the age of the actor seems to be a big sticking point for some people.

In the main, yes, Tolkien's elves tend to appear youthful beyond their many, many years, but there are some notable examples. One of the most extreme is Gwindor, who spends many years as a thrall in Angband and eventually returns to his own people "now seeming as one of the aged among mortal Men, because of his torments and his labours". Gwindor is an extreme example, though, the result of exceptional trauma. There are more natural examples, though.

The big one is Círdan the Shipwright, memorably described thus: "his beard was long, and he was grey and old, save that his eyes were keen as stars."

Elrond, meanwhile, at the end of the Third Age appears somewhere in the middle: "The face of Elrond was ageless, neither old nor young." Contrast with Glorfindel, who is considerably older than him - give or take a death/re-embodiment episode - whose face is described as "fair and young" just one paragraph earlier.

Then we have the sons of Elrond, who are probably among the youngest Elves in Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age, but who seem to take after their father, being described as "neither young nor old", but at the same time with "elven-fair" faces.

By any human yardstick, it doesn't seem logical that Glorfindel should appear obviously younger than Elrond or his sons. You could argue that their half-elven nature might admit signs of ageing where other Elves wouldn't, but then we have Arwen, daughter of Elrond. She is well over two thousand years old - though barely a hundred years younger than her brothers - but she appears young. When the twenty-year-old Aragorn first beholds her, we're told, "she had seemed of no greater age than he" - at least until he sees the elven-light in her eyes. (Note that when Frodo first sees Arwen, the book says, "Young she was and yet not so" - though, like many Elves, this seems to have more to do with the wisdom and memory apparent in her demeanour, because we're also told that in terms of physical appearance "The braids of her dark hair were touched by no frost; her white arms and clear face were flawless and smooth".

So it's clear we have a lot of variation between Elves' relative ages and the "age" of their appearance. I've seen some attempts to pass off the negativity over Charles Edwards' casting to concerns over sexist double-standards: why is a 50-something actor playing Celebrimbor when Galadriel, who is canonically older, is played by an actress in her thirties? But frankly, I'm calling bullshit on that one, because when the Fellowship meet Galadriel and Celeborn (again, this is at the end of the Third Age), the book tells us: "no sign of age was upon them, unless it were in the depths of their eyes." This is despite these two being among the oldest Elves still living in Middle-earth. So if Galadriel can appear more youthful than, say, Elrond and his sons, why could she not potentially appear more youthful that Celebrimbor (of whom, again, we have no physical description)? If there is a double-standard in evidence, I'm afraid it's one that must be traced back to Tolkien himself.

Frankly, I think it's fairly obvious that a lot of the wank about Charles Edwards' Celebrimbor stems from people being unable or unwilling to separate fanon from canon. It's not exactly a secret that in the main, fandom tends to portray Celebrimbor as hunky and youthful, and I've seen plenty of mean-spirited posts opining that he's too unattractive to play the character (which on the "fucking the old man" website is hilarious). But like, beauty is subjective.

And even within the books, there are variations in beauty and body types. Remember Nerdanel, a master artisan despite being "not among the fairest of her people"? (Even if you don't personally find the actor attractive, why couldn't Celebrimbor take after his grandmother in this respect?) The Fall of Gondolin also, memorably, gives us the "heavy and squat" Salgant. There are rare exceptions, true, but it's quite apparent that canonically, Elves don't conform to any one standard of beauty or body type.

As for complaints about him being too light-haired to play a grandson of Fëanor? Look, I tend to imagine Celebrimbor as black-haired when I'm reading the books, but the fact is, canon is utterly silent on the subject. For all we know, his mother could be light-haired and he could take after her. Or - idk - he uses the same Laurelin Sheen hair-dye as Uncle Celegorm. (Because somehow fandom seems to have no problem with him being portrayed as Extremely! Blond! despite having even less excuse. As a side note, I'm sure Elven genetics don't work quite the same way as human ones - like, I feel an attempt to draw up an Elven Punnett square would probably result in madness. But whatever.)

In conclusion, then: Tolkien's Elves clearly display variations in their appearance of ageing, which have nothing to do with their actual age. Canon gives us exactly no descriptions of Celebrimbor's physical appearance, therefore the casting of Charles Edwards can't be regarded as in any way uncanonical. Attempts to dress up complaints about his age and looks as anything more worthy are blatantly disingenuous, when they're not being downright immature and mean-spirited.

Personally, I think Edwards is a fine actor, and while he doesn't fit my own image of the character, he does fit lots of the personality beats I associate with him, which can be gleaned from canon, and which frankly matter much more to me. I'm very much looking forward to seeing his performance in series two. Thank you for coming to my rant talk.

[lady-merian]

@emeraldchase okay, here goes!

I’ve seen a lot of jokes about how the best the Ring can do to tempt Sam is a garden. I’ve laughed at them too, but there’s an element to some of the jokes that dismisses the importance of the scene in my opinion. 

The Ring offers power according not only to a person’s desires, but to their abilities. We can infer from what the Ring offers Sam that Sam would desire to do good with it, (arguably, overthrowing Barad-dur and turning the wasteland of Mordor into a garden is a good desire,) but that doesn’t mean it’s not a dangerous power fantasy in its own way. The desire to remake the world in one’s own image and enforce it by any means necessary is something not even our dear Sam is immune to. He’s not imagining a world where nothing threatens peace, he’s imagining being the threat that enforces the peace. If it takes a flaming sword to bring his order into the world then it takes a flaming sword. The Ring tries to convince him it would give him the power to do so. 

The Ring is, of course, a liar, and it’s a credit to Sam that he realized that after rejecting what the Ring was offering him, but it’s also a credit to Sam that he rejected it in the first place. This is his equivalent to Galadriel’s test. Unlike Galadriel, however, he’s in possession of the Ring at the time the temptation comes upon him and I think that’s saying something. 

Curiously, his reward when he returns to the Shire gives him the wholesome version of these desires, not to mention many more blessings besides.

The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command.

Though Sam as the mayor isn’t a position of great power equal to the great kingdoms of Middle-earth by any stretch, it’s a responsibility. (What that looks like is better seen in the unpublished epilogue to the story, in my opinion.) A responsibility he’s proven himself capable of handling. Likewise with a garden swollen to a realm. The part of the Shire that most benefited from his use of Galadriel’s gift was Hobbiton, it’s true, but he did travel the four farthings of the Shire to mend what harms he could. 

I’m not suggesting that Sam could have become this tyrannical ruler, because Sam hasn’t trained his will to the domination of others and also does not have the innate power that Gandalf and Galadriel both have. (Not to mention Sam is correct that Sauron would have seen him if he’d put the Ring on in Mordor: Frodo put on the Ring at Mount Doom and Sauron was instantly aware.) There are few enough who would survive a direct contest with Sauron in a situation like that, so I’m not putting Sam down either by saying that Sam putting on the Ring would have doomed Middle-earth. 

What I’m saying is that just because the vision was of a garden doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have been detrimental to Sam’s character if he’d accepted the vision. Gandalf was wary of even handling it. Sam meanwhile goes to the ends of the earth as far as his people are concerned, right alongside the Ringbearer, and remains mainly concerned for the welfare of Frodo. The thought of what he might do with the Ring hasn’t crossed his mind until that moment. When measured up against his devotion to his master and also his plain hobbit-sense, the Ring can’t compete.

[elerrinacrownedwithstars]

The idea that only Ulmo or Nienna care about Middle-earth and do anything to help Eruhini is a strange misconception because Tolkien pretty clearly shows that at least Manwë is watching very closely what's going on and sometimes even interferes? It's just that the Valar mostly seem to work through the elements they represent, which if you think about it is pretty neat.

Like there are various instances where the wind acts up suddenly, causing storms or rising in just the right moment (as in ROTK, clearing the air for the Rohirrim and speeding Aragorn's journey as he sails for Minas Tirith)

And even more obviously, the Eagles. Tolkien specifically says that the Eagles are Manwë's advocates in Middle-earth, providing miraculous aid when all else fails. Without the Eagles, Beren and Lúthien's quest would have failed and Huor would not have got to Gondolin (which then would have prevented Eärendil's success or even meant he was never born). They give crucial aid to Gandalf more than once. The Eagles also help Fingon to save Maedhros, because Manwë "would not wholly abandon the Noldor". Tolkien recognises that the Eagles are "deus ex machina", and in this case, the meaning is quite literal.

Then there are the Istari, envoys of the Valar: while there is proof of only Gandalf's success, even just the efforts of one of the Wizards was enough to bring down Sauron.

As for Ulmo, you could argue that he is responsible for the whole Eärendil and Elwing arc - and that it was a job between him and Manwë. It's Manwë's Eagles that bring Huor to Gondolin, and Ulmo later sends Huor's son Tuor into the hidden city. Tuor and Eärendil both get sea-longing in their hearts. During the flight of the survivors of Gondolin, Eagles are again present and bring up the body of Glorfindel, making you wonder whether they would have interfered more in the Balrog fight if Glorfindel had not stepped up to protect the refugees - and Eärendil, the fated saviour of Middle-earth. Also, Ulmo rescues Elwing when she casts herself into the sea, turning her into a bird so that she can fly to find Eärendil. Water and air and birds keep showing up in the stories of Eärendil and Elwing and if that's not proof of Manwë and Ulmo's plotting, I don't know what is. I mean, it's even said in the first pages of the Silmarillion that they are fast friends and closely allied from the beginning! Eärendil becoming a star also in a weird way even combines the elements of Ulmo, Manwë, and Varda: bearing the Silmaril, Eärendil sails an immortal ship in the sea of heaven and stars, forever as a sign of hope to the Children of Ilúvatar.

What about the other Valar? If we keep in mind that they chiefly work through the elements they represent, their abilities to interfere are limited (and this is a self-imposed limitation clearly). Yavanna's creation of the Ents proves to be a pretty great one in The Two Towers, although you can argue to what degree she is influencing the events. More obviously In Shelob's lair, Sam calls for Varda, and the light of the phial of Galadriel comes alive in his hand and smites the great spider, helping Sam to defeat the monster. Also, during Sam and Frodo's desperate march through the hellscape that is Mordor, Sam yearns for a little bit of light and water to hearten him - and lo and behold, he gets these exact things as if Varda and Ulmo personally delivered.

In other words, the Valar are a lot more active in Middle-earth than they get credit for, and they work in subtle and indirect ways because only then can they make sure they don't accidentally kill a lot of the Children.

[perplexingly]

I've been wanting to write a description of the Watermill Theatre's Lord of the Rings musical for these who were unable to see it, so I'll mention some of the things that stood out to me.

Also first of all, I saw that @emeraldskulblaka was kind enough to compile a masterpost about the musical, sharing the available videos and audios here

Now to the Watermill production:

The audience was encouraged to come 30min before the start of the show to celebrate Bilbo's 111 birthday.

During that time the actors were playing music, talking with the audience, playing games with the audience, I almost got hit in the face as Gimli in front of me failed to catch a ring that was thrown at him : D I saw there are some recordings of this part around, eg:

While still outdoors, the play started seemlessly with Bilbo's iconic birthday speech. After his disappearing act (in a puff of smoke), we moved indoors and while the audience was settling down, Frodo sat on stage all sad perusing letters

This stage is very tiny but they used it in a clever way; eg. there were moments when, to show the distance, the actors would say their lines behind the audience on the upper ring. They would also utilise the doors at the center stage or the ladders on the sides to climb on. The lighting also gave each scene a lot of character:

Also each actor doubled as a musician, often playing on the edges of the stage but still in full view, giving this interesting illusion of environment.

I think my favourite moment of using actors as parts of the environment was during Sam and Frodo's Now and for Always duet: once they started singing, Bilbo came to sit on the edge, in the shadow, just looking at them, and with each verse a new hobbit/musician came behind, hanging out in the shadows and giving this dreamy idea of Shire. And when Sam fell asleep, there was Rosie coming a bit forward to caress him.

Another such wonderful moment was near the end, when Frodo could go no longer and Sam helped him. The earlier situation when Sam fought off Shelob with Eärendil's light reminded the viewer of Galadriel's - and the elves - indirect help. And when Sam put his arms around Frodo to guide him, quietly, in the shadows around them illusions of elves appeared to show them the way and to catch them when they stumbled.

Speaking about the plot point - act 1 encompassed the first of the trilogy while the second act the other two. To achieve this condensation in the second act, most characters that were not directly related to the fellowship were either removed or merged with other, eg. Denethor and Theoden were combined into one, with the Rohan/Gondor politics removed altogether. But honestly, I thought it was the smarter choice, as we get the time to get attached to the main cast.

One more thing I'd like to mention were the practical effects. While ents were just an off-stage voice, when they were talking there were leafs falling down from the ceiling. But the most impressive was Shelob, which was a giant puppet with real-like leg movement, mostly in shadow except for the reflective eyes. I saw that there's an early test for Shelob posted on Instagram:

Also, I talked about Gollum in an earlier post, but I just wanted to make a quick illustration of the adorable moment between Gollum and Bilbo that I saw in the epilogue: