#modern scholar

[knightsickness]

really really like how criston exhibits the medieval knightly virtues (generosity courtesy chastity fellowship and piety) more than almost any modern hero archetype and is unambiguously a bad person. he genuinely doesn’t believe he’s going to hell for killing a lot of people (that was for the greater good) he thinks it’s for having sex once

#values dissonance stuff with medieval fantasy characters vv interesting esp in relation to masculinity #good masculinity meant being chaste and temperate and a scholar but sex and violence and drinking was still manlier #even if it was officially ‘bad masculinity’ compared to evoking cain instead of abel. many such cases #daemon as an aspirational kind of bad masculinity but also a modern hero archetype as a rogue #criston struggles to maintain medieval good masculinity and a chivalric hero archetype that modern works basically never have uncritically #hotd #house of the dragon #criston cole #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire

[catominor]

another thing about the c. martinus and l. furius scholarship too is that their story gets received into the historical record with some. significant differences to what Actually happened so i get to have soo very much fun with that...

#its genuinely really interesting to me to imagine how both later historians and modern scholars would interpret them.... #because the narrative/information gets. manipulated immediately after their death by a certain someone for Reasons >:] #its really fun.maybe someday ill spoiler the whole plot idk BDHJGA #ficposting #what i will say is that. l. furius gets rather too much credit than hes due and c. martinus' reputation gets posthumously tarnished... #<actually wants to spoiler it so bad tbh #<also the rumor of their affair may only get preserved by later historians who make an example of l. furius' Virtue being like that is NOT #true. my specialest boy would NEVER do such a thing. btw

[theheirofthesharingan]

tolkien said sam was the chief hero of lord of the rings. also frodo wouldn't have made it out of the shire without him. sam carried frodo on his shoulders in mordor and fought shelob all alone.

tolkien said sam was the chief hero of lord of the rings.

He didn't, apparently. The chief hero quote is a heavily misquoted, perverted phrase LotR fandom has perpetuated without using any critical thinking because it serves their bias. The entire quote, within the context of the letter, means and says something else entirely.

Since we now try to deal with 'ordinary life', springing up ever unquenched under the trample of world policies and events, there are love-stories touched in, or love in different modes, wholly absent from The Hobbit. But the highest love-story, that of Aragorn and Arwen Elrond's daughter is only alluded to as a known thing. It is told elsewhere in a short tale. Of Aragorn and Arwen Undómiel. I think the simple 'rustic' love of Sam and his Rosie (nowhere elaborated) is absolutely essential to the study of his (the chief hero's) character, and to the theme of the relation of ordinary life (breathing, eating, working, begetting) and quests, sacrifice, causes, and the 'longing for Elves', and sheer beauty. But I will say no more, nor defend the theme of mistaken love seen in Eowyn and her first love for Aragorn. But altogether it would hardly amount to the excision of a single long chapter.

People miss the whole context. Here, the theme is that of Love. The characters in question are Sam (rustic, simple love) being compared to Aragorn (higher, nobler love). Tolkien also mentions Éowyn because of her feelings towards Aragorn. It's not a comparison between Frodo and Sam. LotR is a story about the hobbits and all four serve a purpose in the story. They all start out as fairytale heroes but only three return with a gain. Frodo is the tragic hero of the tale.

Furthermore, in many of his letters, Tolkien talks about Frodo as the central character.

Here is a small consignment of 'The Ring': the last two chapters that have been written, and the end of the Fourth Book of that great Romance, in which you will see that, as is all too easy, I have got the hero into such a fix that not even an author will be able to extricate him without labour and difficulty. Lewis was moved almost to tears by the last chapter. All the same, I chiefly want to hear what you think, as for a long time now I have written with you most in mind. (letter #91).

Many people think since Sam is the only one (physically) present there, Tolkien is talking about Sam; but in truth, the one character who is in 'fix' here is Frodo. The main objective of the story is how will Frodo, with Sam's help, go to Mordor and destroy the Ring. Since Sam abandons the idea of destroying the Ring and chooses to follow Frodo's 'dead body', hence endangering the fate of the world, I doubt it has to be about him. We need Frodo to save the world. And we need Sam to save Frodo. Without Frodo, Middle-earth is doomed and the story and the plot cannot go any further than this.

In another letter to David Masson (1955), Tolkien says this:

'Surely how often "quarter" is given is off the point in a book that breathes Mercy from start to finish: in which the central hero is at last divested of all arms, except his will?

(emphasis is mine)

Frodo is the one who divests himself of all arms. And it's his will that's repeatedly talked about throughout the story. The central hero Tolkien talking about here is him.

In The Silmarillion, Frodo is the only character mentioned from the Fellowship. Gandalf is mentioned as Olórin, not Gandalf. Surely, it's a bird-eye view of LotR, but the sentence that was phrased as 'Frodo with the help of his servant destroyed the ring' could also have been said differently with Sam being in focus instead. In the letter #246, JRRT goes in extreme detail regarding Frodo, his heroism, his contribution to the quest, and his relevance in the story thematically. Frodo was the antithesis of Sauron and fought against him singlehandedly. The battle of wills, not any physical battle. In the Field of Cormallen, both Frodo and Sam are honoured, but Frodo is still bestowed with the highest honour for his service (they sang 'Frodo of the Nine Fingers in his honour). Tolkien's words on this:

Frodo deserved all honour because he spent every drop of his power of will and body, and that was just sufficient to bring him to the destined point, and no further. Few others, possibly no others of his time, would have got so far. The Other Power then took over: the Writer of the Story (by which I do not mean myself), 'that one ever-present Person who is never absent and never named' (as one critic has said). (Letter #192)

also frodo wouldn't have made it out of the shire without him.

It's been many years since I read the book, so my memory might betray me, but if I remember it correctly, Sam helped them in the Old Forest because he was the only not under the spell of the tree (Old Man Willow, I suppose). In other instances Frodo took precautions himself. He knew whom to trust. The rest was handled by Merry and Pippin while they left their home and met Strider. Frodo saved his friends from Barrow Wight at the Downs, was the only one to summon courage enough to get back at the Nazgúl while the other three hobbits were terrified. Are you sure you aren't making any overstatements in your comments?

sam carried frodo on his shoulders in mordor and fought shelob all alone.

His contribution in helping Frodo and getting him to Mordor, even on his shoulder, are undeniable. He has a long list of accomplishments, for which he was generously rewarded in the end. But his accomplishments don't make him the 'true hero of LotR', definitely not greater than Frodo.

I can't recall the taste of food, nor the sound of water, nor the touch of grass. I'm naked in the dark. There's nothing — no veil between me and the wheel of fire. I can see him with my waking eyes.

This was Frodo's condition while they were nearing Orodruin. He still didn't give up. No one else, I repeat no one else, was put through these conditions, not even Sam. There comes a time when the Ring physically forces Frodo to put itself on. He resists it and then finds Galadriel's phial. When Sam carries Frodo on his shoulders, he states Frodo hardly weighed more than a hobbit child. It was either Sam was rewarded for his kindness or Frodo had actually lost so much weight that he didn't even weigh more than a child at that time.

'All gave some and some gave all' is a quote I read somewhere. Frodo was the one who gave all he had. He was the kindest, bravest, and most selfless hobbit. Tolkien might have meant Sam to be the chief hero/main character, but that means that for a 'supporting character', Frodo is far more heroic, relevant to the story, because without him, the story wouldn't even exist.

___

I hope this answer was convincing enough for you, anon. Thanks for reminding me why I grew to dislike LotR fandom so much. Apparently, anything pro Frodo must be responded with "sam is the true hero" and "tolkien said so" without looking at the context of the phrases because it helps you with your own bias.

#frodo #lotr frodo #frodo baggins #tolkien #jrr tolkien #lotr #ask #anon #i don't write for anything other than naruto on this blog but this ask had me do it #i gave up on LotR fandom a long time ago for this reason #and haven't written anything for years #for a fandom that has tons of scholars and the books that inspired modern fantasy literature lotr has some of the dumbest fans #though sometimes exceptions are necessary i guess #anyway if you love frodo we might be best friends already

[galaxirin]

Sequel doodle to this post because I started to wonder how their sleepovers are actually like

#laurence the first vicar #rin draws #ludwig the holy blade #soulsborne #lady maria of the astral clocktower #gehrman the first hunter #micolash host of the nightmare #bloodborne #bloodborne Art #yurie the last scholar #vicar Amelia #is this considered a modern au??

[tennessoui]

would it be annoying or fun for y’all if I were to write a “choose your own adventure”/“vote on what happens to the characters next” fic vía tumblr polls?🫣🤔

#asks from me to you #you can say annoying btw #file this under anything kit can think of that isn’t working on her wips #(though in my defense I wrote like 2k each of the last chapters of Stacy’s mom au and if you love me let it remain unnamed #while on transit in Italy so there!) #anyway the current vision is like I would make a poll with 3 options of a premise #each option would be a specific combo of things like: #gffa senator Skywalker smuggler obi-wan reverse ages #modern au same age college interns enemies to lovers #fantasy world elven scholar obiwan sibject of his current fascination human general Skywalker #(these would not actually be the premises but these are example premises) #and then I write a ficlet for the one with the most votes #and then theres another poll at the end of the ficlet (or the ficlet is linked in the next poll) #about what action the characters should take next #and the most votes gets the next ficlet in the au

[mrhyde-mrseek]

Similar to how I made moodboards for SMS, I made some for the Case Files characters!

There’s a LOT, so this’ll be split into multiple parts. First, we have the Order of Peculiar Mortals and Other Such Figures:

Clara Holmes

Dr. Watson

Jonathan Harker

Adam Shelley

The Time Traveller

Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde

Griffin

Allan Scholar

Ichabod Crane

#the case files of clara holmes #gothic literature #classic literature #gothic lit #classic lit #clara holmes #dr watson #sherlock holmes #acd watson #dracula #dracula book #jonathan harker #frankenstein or the modern prometheus #frankenstein #frankenstein book #adam shelley #the time machine #the time traveller #dr jekyll and mr hyde #the strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde #dr jekyll #mr hyde #the invisible man #griffin the invisible man #the raven #edgar allan poe #allan scholar #the legend of sleepy hollow #ichabod crane #the order of peculiar mortals and other such figures

[bijoumikhawal]

The Shekhinah as queen is protector of her people, interceding with the Divine masculine as king, and also defending the Jews from attack. She is a regal warrior:

What shall I do for Her? Well look! My entire household is in Her hands. He issued a proclamation: "Henceforth all affairs of the King are entrusted to Matronita [the Lady/the Queen]." He placed in Her control all His weapons: lances, swords, bows, arrows, catapults, fortresses, stones... in front of He would appear warriors, catapultiers, lancemen, swordsmen- since other camps were coming to wage war against Israel from above.

The Zohar depicts the Shekhinah with Kali like ferocity, saying: "We have learned that a thousand mighty mountains standing before her are just one bite for her. A thousand great rivers she swallows in one gulp." When a person is traveling, the Shekhinah stands by as a guardian.

Pg 141, the Hebrew Priestess

#cipher talk #Kohenet Judaism #'Israel' here throughly predates the modern state #I have a feeling the Kali comparison is mostly eclectic western spirituality at work but its actually a legitimate comparison #Because several scholars suspect Anat and Kali are related in some way though no one has been quite able to figure out how #They are WEIRDLY similar in regard to some very specific imagery. Durga gets brought into it as well. #And Anat having been used as a consort of Hashem at least once may have influenced the idea of the Shekhinah

[littlesparklight]

💗the Epic Cycle

#greek myth thoughts #trojan war #all the ancient and modern scholars dunking on it are simply wrong #(except the telegony) #(the telegony can get fucked :) )

[haresvoid]

Some modern!ome fun facts:

Works as a guised human professor at a college- head of the science department. Specific courses it teaches are biology and chemistry, with sections focused on toxicology, epidemiology, and botany being their most revered areas of knowledge. Ome is well versed in all areas of science however.

Also an illithilich and believes it is the last remaining of the mind flayer race

Over 3000 years old

Depending on what is necessary for rp, it can either be this is the same reality as Faerun or Ome reality jumped at some point

Also a criminal in the manner of it wires funds or steals equipment from government and or big businesses to make cures and medicines for those that can't afford it and cannot be simply mended with its magic

Still cares about life and freedom but a little more morally flexible otherwise

Lives in a 4 bedroom house outside the city it works in- its them, their five undead, a bunch of plants, and probably some pets

Its five undead consist likely of: A couple of zombies, a couple of skeletons, and a ghoul- they all have various plant life or mushrooms growing out of them

It has taught them to help around the house and its ghoul actual grades its papers

Its phylactery is either a music box, a plant pot, a book, or a precious stone I haven't decided yet

Doesn't need to eat brains, does need to collect souls every so often- less often than it needed to eat brains though. Due to the specifics with soul collection, it is even more strict that only the most vile people it kills and uses the lifeforce of

More direct and bold, but still gentle and patient- it just sees no need to mince words when it has lived long enough it believe it understands people and people understand what it is saying as well

Takes baths crafted to produce something similar to the film that once covered its living body- while it doesn't need this as it doesn't decay as a simple Alhoon would, it doesn't like the feeling of the dry skin

One potentially very fucked up fact about it: given the near death of its entire species and the lack of elder brains, Ome does wonder what would happen if illithids were born now from hosts without the Grand Design existing. It is undead and cannot produce tadpoles, but if it could it would show interest in ceremorphosis of the same bodies it steals the souls of.

#THE SCHOLAR. modern au #( the squid is old but happy with its unlife #a lil morally grey in some areas but also it hates big pharma and just wants to make sure people live happy and healthy ) #ask to tag //

[shredsandpatches]

I also think some of the intense dislike expressed by literary critics for the middle section of Doctor Faustus in which he performs various illusions for royals and nobles comes from academics experiencing a strong sense of professional disappointment. Just write a grant application, Faustus, it's more dignified.

(P.S. it's not)

#doctor faustus #hot faust summer #and hereafter sir look you speak well of scholars #modern au faustus becomes a public intellectual

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Every time I read anything Marsilio Ficino wrote, i look at my imagined version of him, often sitting just to the left of me, and I ask of him: “Ficino. What are you doing? How did you make it to your fifties before being charged with heresy?”

And he does his prim smile and replies, “carefully hedging everything I ever wrote until De Vita. Let that be a lesson.”

Wine is a curative, as we all well know.

There is so much happening in this one section I’m not sure where to begin. But I love all of it.

Ficino. Never stop being the weirdest man in late 15th century Florence.

#Pico was the edgelord of the humanist scholars #Ficino was just genuinely weird #pico della mirandola for those who know him by his longer name #history #15th century #de vita #the three books of life #Marsilio Ficino #humanism #early modern Italy #early modern period #Marsilio blogging #obscure early modern Florence blogging

[moshdoingthings]

The Scholars’ Armoury

Once upon a time,

The greatest weapon of man,

Ink and paper prime.

- @moshdoingthings

#anthropology #culture #museum #photography #vintage #daily haiku #modern haiku #haiku #haiku poem #haiku on tumblr #haiku poetry #haikuoftheday #original haiku #my haiku #scholars #scholarly academia #academia aesthetic #romantic academia #light academia #dark academia #academy #academia #pen and paper #pen and ink #ink and paper #pen and pencil

[pomellon]

Ended up working on a new baby uwu

#wip #pom ocs #why yes he is dead space inspired #because after thinking I decided to not make dead space au #but rather just make designs based of the characters (the whole three of em that actually live wooo!) and make em ocs :D #not sure what to name this guy yet tho #pretty much decided on Zoe and Cooper for the other two but got nothing for this bean so suggestion are welcome all tho I might be picky #he's a lightning scholar #and his whole concept is basically being a battle scholar #a concept that's pretty rare in the modern saurian setting #mostly cuz scholars tend to be the smallest class and they don't have scales or fur to give any kind of protecting against attacks #most dragons would think it crazy to put one on the battle field as they would do much better at strategizing than fighting #but when you're stuck in life or death situations without escape all you can do is bare your fangs and fight with everything you got

[therainingkiwi]

i was just watching celebrity jeopardy and one of the clues described medieval timbuktu as "a college town" and i think my entire brain has been rewired

#broke: “medieval timbuktu held the greatest libraries in the world and attracted scholars from all over” #woke: “medieval timbuktu was a college town” #history #timbuktu #mali empire #sankore university #african history #malian empire #jeopardy #how would we view history differently if we described old things in modern terms? #what kind of ragers were sleepless college students having in timbuktu c. 1200?

[empcrer]

Entering the University's property meant the melding of many inquisitive minds. Its chatter is no different from the bustling streets. Only here there's a hunger for knowledge– with heavy doses of academic stress. The Emp.eror isn't quite used to it, yet. The minds he delves into, or hears within passing, involve a struggle of sin or guilt. Often they plead for life; as his profession compared to his bedside companion isn't as tame.

No matter. He takes his time meandering through the halls. His focuses set on one mind in particular, and how he's able to find their room of practice with ease. Though he has been here before. Maybe once… or twice in the past lunar cycle. His memory is a bit fuzzy on the details as his attention laid elsewhere– as it did now.

The illithid in disguise enters the lecture hall by tossing his overcoat over his shoulder. To the students, he's an older gentleman of distinguished features. His skin is of islander descent, and his long, wavy greying hair is tied neatly in a bun. He also adorns a freshly trimmed mustache and beard. Which frames his little smile when he leans against the wall while Ome.luum is busily indulging their class in mycology.

His sights are locked on his fellow illithid. Allowing the realization to slither in as they came to a short pause. It's the opportune moment to allow his psionic intricacies to slip into the mind. Holding them there with a teasing tenderness. Their gaze meet, and The Emp.eror gives a little lift of his brow. To the students he may very well be an attendant who is analyzing their professor's capabilities in the classroom. Little do they know is these two know one another intimately.

While the lecture continued, he takes an empty seat within the front row. His psionic tease tightening and releasing like a slow ebb and flow, but… never going too far. He's a cruel being, yet he won't go as far as making his lover embarrass themselves in front of their students.

Once the students pour from the lecture hall, he responds coolly. " Of course not. " Blunt, but not to the point. For now he doesn't care for the scholar's fascinations. Lifting his legs, he leans back in his chair while never breaking eye contact with them. The snares in their mind grow a little tighter, a little fonder. " I have something to ask of you. "

@negativeroom continued from here.

#Reply. #the scholar and the emperor ( negativeroom ). #Modern Verse. #( i didn't forget about this nope >:] )

[foyernormanchapel]

heard in a conference today someone say dead seriously that “success is eurocentric concept”

and my 16th century ancestors who studied their asses off to pass the state exam said what

#universalism is a western colonial concept pt.2 #look i get what these scholars are getting at #i so appreciate their work #but western colonial modernity is a specific creation in a specific place and time dont apply it to the history of the universe #i feel like we had a moment in scholarship and now its kinda sterile and we're moving on #e.g. the concept of religion is protestant etc etc #that dude who looked at concept of religion in pre-modern islam became assistant prof at stanford #so yeah it was productive but now we're perhaps moving forward