#bc i've read so little of the other legendarium

[elluendifad]

Hi!! Could you talk a little about what following Tolkien elven religion is like for you? (Only if you want, of course.)

I'm a very newly awakened elf and I've just started reading the silmarillion. I haven't even gotten that far yet, but already it's the most connected I've felt to any religious system/religious lore before. I'm considering practicing Elvish religion, but idk. I feel a little strange saying I want to practice a religion from a work of fiction, y'know? (Please don't take this as me saying your beliefs are strange— I think they're incredibly cool. This is very much just a me thing.)

Anyway, I guess my question is something along the lines of How did you realize this was the religion for you/What do you believe wrt Tolkiens work being or not being fiction?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and doubly so if you choose to answer! Have a nice timezone :))

Alatulya, welcome kin! this one is a little long so there is a break. i also accidentally hit publish early, so we will see how editing it works lol.

table of contents: 1. my personal history and variety of practitioners 2. dealing with fictional mythology + my fave paper on this 3. specifics of tolk elven religion

Eldarin religion has been my primary religion (buddhism and my eclectic animistic witchcraft also there and co piloting) for seven years. I have been working with other eldar on our own group experience of this religion for two or a bit more years. I have taken a bit of priestly service role of collecting and organizing materials and keeping track of the calendar, which we call Loa and which assigns different holidays and themes in order throughout the year. i suspect this role is agreeable and natural for me as minya, but that anyone could do it. the degree of demand differs depending on the person, and i would say that much of my time is set to thinking of or practicing our religion. others have less involvement, and some of us feel our cosmology and philosophy is more cultural than religious the way humans might think being a member of a religious group should be. as for my own journey of getting here, i have been otherkin for most of my life and many years of that was 'generally a nature spirit type thing.' which became 'an elf but i am not sure what kind.' which then became 'oh god… am i one of those hoity toity tolkien elves?' bc there is a cultural expectation among elfkin that tolk elves are more dour and care what color clothes you wear or something… turns out that is not true! or, at least, i have not met these grim arbiters of what is becoming of the firstborn! reading the silm and other texts in the legendarium to fill in what i had absorbed from the hobbit and lotr (books and movies) was the lightbulb in the dim cellar. i use a mixed spiritual and psychological theory of origin and function for my several theriotypes and elven kintype, and this experience filled in some gaps i had just been sitting with. i personally feel that i am living one continuous eldarin life--awoken at cuivienen among the minyar, lived and died, spent my time in mandos, and was reembodied here. my sense of memory is dim, and i generally assume that is just a sign that memory is not necessarily important for this part of my life the way it was in arda. it is a great honor to live this life and to find other eldar and folks of all kindreds to share my love of life with. it was natural to transition from my magic and religious work with nature spirits to a cosmology centered on the legendarium-some of the spirits i still work and live with admit they are maiar, others are not maiar and are of the many kinds of spirit and sprite that entered into ea after its foundation to explore. our working relationships and the techniques i use for magic have stayed much the same. so how i do it is just one example in a variety.

2. i will answer first on dealing with the fictional aspect and wrestling with the nature of constructed or pop culture or modern mythology spirituality-the individual beliefs differ there, too!

for my part, i do not think the legendarium is a factual history of this actual world we currently live in. i do think jrrt was channeling something, and may or may not have been kin himself of arda reembodied here.

i think ea, like most faerie realms, is both here and not here and you have to open yourself up and step into it. once most people have experienced the enchantment of an otherworld, they are never fully able to drop the sense of it. i do feel that the legendarium makes a suitable mythopoetic 'history' for powers and themes that apply to both this world and ea and where they overlap, and that the legendarium becomes more historically factual the closer you move into ea and the further you go from current earth.

there is a lovely paper that i surely have annoyed everyone with titled the tolkien spiritual milieu by Markus Altena Davidsen of the university of leiden that really gets into the anatomy of constructed religion and what is present in certain medias that lends itself to that anatomy, which he calls 'religious affordances' in the text. it details a number of groups of many varied beliefs in the tolkien spiritual sphere, some active and some long gone, and i feel that it is a great way to expand one's vocabulary and mental concept of constructed religion and the wide variety that is possible in such constructions. the pdf is available from the university website here

if you check out mr davidsen's other published papers on that website, there are several others also relevant to fiction sourced mythology and spirituality including some by other authors.

3. that being said, there are religious affordances for the eldar in the texts, but not necessarily enough for a fully fleshed out practice as is prepared and given to new members of various world religions. it will take a bit of crafting, but we elves do love to craft! most of us blend legendarium cosmology and philosophy with practices or philosophies we are previously familiar with, like neopaganism or judaism or etc etc.

we have developed some structure in the forms of: a multiply layered observational calendar for the six seasons, eight holidays, twelve months, and seven days of the week; the fourteen valar and several named maiar associated with certain valar; the panentheistic experience of the creator Eru; and the use of witchcraft, meditation, devotional or worship activity, enchantments, glamor, and arts like music poetry painting crochet etc.

most of us practice our own personal flavor by ourselves, and group rituals or ensorcelments are rare at the moment. we are all exploring, and i would be thrilled to hear about your own explorations and what calls to you!

sooo… basically i have a worship and work relationship with our gods and supportive spirits, and give observation on the schedule of the loa. i have daily practices, like offering of beverage an thanks or an oil anointment of my body, and then weekly practices like an eruhini veneration and well wishes for the dead. and monthly practices on the full and dark moon, which is focused on the vala of that month, where i usually do spellwork for the constellation. there are holidays at the start of each season and at the solstices, where i will sometimes do magic for the group but is usually about the personal journey. the one time another elf was physically with me i did do some small rituals including that elda. my herbalism work is inherently religious to me and i also count both learning and practicing herbalism as a devotional activity, same with going on walks or drumming.

i invite you very earnestly to reach out any time and through any means you are comfortable with, and i wish you a very blessed full moon of winds. hantanyel ar namarie!

#elvenkind #elvenkin #elfkin #tolkien spirituality #ardan paganism #my mothers name is death #witchcraft #elfgang

[chiliadicorum]

12, 13, 14, 18!

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Cirdan! He's honestly one of the most amazing Elves in ALL of the legendarium and I blame Tolkien for burying all his gold nuggets. That's the only explanation for how he's so overlooked and dismissed. Has to be. Even C. Tolkien expressed amazement with Cirdan. Wisest of all Elves, greatest foresight of all Elves, saw the Star of Earendil 10,000 years before it happened, has one of the palantiri, Ring-bearer, could've wielded the One Ring itself...i need to just finally make a list of why I love him so much

ok this is a two-part answer bc I realize the prompt probably means a character that is actively disliked. For that, Thingol. I'm honestly appalled at the (general) fandom reception of him. He doesn't deserve it (don't have time to get to the why)

13. worst blorbofication

Nobody hit me, but my answer is Melkor. I love Melkor, like a lot. He's so darkly fascinating, so interesting and addictive to explore, and so often he's stripped of everything that makes him fascinating all for the sake of making him a little less villainous, a little more right, a little whatever (i'm generalizing here, and this isn't about shipping. I don't read melkor/ships so i have no comment on it) He's so complex and so often he's made so shallow instead. Sauron comes in a close second for the same reason.

14. that one thing you see in fics all the time

One-sided characterization? (idk what to call it) I'm not crapping on anyone who does it and I know I was guilty of it myself at one point but it's that thing where ONE aspect of the character (good or bad, usually bad) is then blown up to be their whole character. And in the Tolkien fandom this happens a lot with Feanor, his sons, Eol, Saeros, Finarfin (of all people!), Galadriel, Finwe, Thranduil, Thingol, etc (honestly the fandom's way with thingol pisses me off probably more than any other character, at least right now)

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

The balrogs!!!! After Glorfindel and Ecthelion killed two of them! How groundbreaking and shocking it had to have been. Not just to the people of Gondolin who made it out alive but to EVERYONE in Beleriand. From the Feanorians to the Sindar to Dwarves to all Men EVERONE.

You know what, here's the link, I hunted it down: https://www.tumblr.com/chiliadicorum/159569845327/balrog-slayer-a-new-word?source=share

Read that for more info bc I'll start fangirling and won't shut up here. I'm commented on this before^^ and someone graciously wrote a beautiful fic exploring it as a result (can't remember who they were I'm sorry!), but except for that one fic I've yet to find one single fic entailing this! (plz point them out to me if they're there bc admittedly i haven't searched for fics the way I'd like to in a loooong time)

Bc yeah, really how has fandom been sleeping on this?! especially a "hopeful" thing to write about in the First Age lol

Also Word of Honor answer bc I'm craving it: (spoiler warning) After the events of ep36 or during the time of ep37, where are all the fics exploring the reactions of people to the "two immortals on the mountain"? bc come on, immortals don't exist. Right? It's been explored some (and those fics are GOLD) but UGH its so entertaining to think about! Especially when they become legendary and of course the true story gets exaggerated and rumors start and fly and get ridiculous and what's true what's false nobody knows! "I dare you to go up the mountain, see if the tales are true" "no way! you go if you're so desperate" "what are you chicken?" "shut up a-hole i just have no desire to climb a mountain" hahahaha Endless entertainment potential with this!!

choose violence ask game

#this was fun thanks! #celebbun #gwedasks #ask #silmarillion #word of honor

[random-jot]

Books That Made Me

Tagged by @books-and-doodles to talk about some of the books that have impacted me most. Thank u for the tag!! This is a v cool tag - though it may take me some time to properly think about it

I've not put these in any particular order, just the order I think of them; I'm including some general favourites, some teen/childhood faves and maybe even some books that impacted me bc of how much I didn't like them - this should be fun, let's go!

1. The Lord Of The Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien

Fantasy fan includes LOTR on their list? Who saw that coming? ;D In seriousness tho; I grew up watching the LOTR movies as a kid, so the story'll always hold a special place in my heart for that alone, revisting the books OR movies always feels like coming home. ALSO: I distinctly remember finishing reading the books for the first time, sitting in the school library, closing the final page of ROTK and thinking "I want to be a writer. I want to write something like that one day." So not only is this a franchise that I loved when I was younger, it is also the reason that I decided I wanted to be a writer in the first place, so in terms of 'books that made me' this one quite unequivocally fits the bill. This book literally made me want to be a writer.

2. The Silmarillion/Tolkien's Legendarium

What you didn't think I was done talking Tolkien did you? After I'd read LOTR I wanted to read more Tolkien and ofc the Silmarillion was on offer - I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a few false starts on it, bc man that boi is d e n s e. However, after reading Silm for the first time I was blown away by it; the complexity of the lore and worldbuilding, the deepness and richness of the history to a world that I thought I loved before. These days, I've read Silm more times than LOTR (and maybe even - as a book - prefer it?) The stories of Beren and Lúthien, The Children Of Húrin, the rise and fall of Fëanor, the great war against the original dark lord Morgoth, the origin of the world itself, all of it together just stuck with me, it was just so beautifully intricate and so goddamned interesting to learn more about Beleriand and Middle Earth and Tolkien's world. Except for that geography chapter. That's one I admit I tend to skip on rereads.

(Just gonna pop a readmore here, as this inevitably ended up being quite long :D)

3. Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz

Before year 7 began, we were assigned a list of books by our school and had to choose one to read and do a report on. Me and pretty much every other boy I knew chose Alex Rider: Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz. Teenage spy & cool gadgets? What's not to like (other than the terrible movie adaptation). From there I was hooked on this series and desparate to read the other five books that were out (at the time). I remember the excitement when Snakehead, Crocodile Tears & Scorpia Rising were respectively announced, not to mention Russian Roulette? Never Say Die too, though by the time that came out I'd outgrown this series a little. Still, that doesn't take away from how big a fan i was, how much time i spent consuming this series (and coming up w/ my own story ideas for it, which I used to do a lot for things I liked). My love of this series is also partially what made me go see Kingsman: The Secret Service when it came out, which is one of my favourite movies, so i owe AR for that one. I'll always feel that nostalgic attachment for this series, and I'd definitely love to catch up with where the story is now at some point.

4. Goosebumps - R.L. Stine

The series that DOMINATED an entire row of my childhood bookshelf. Vividly remember trying to squeeze any new one I got onto that same shelf so they could all be together. Being honest Goosbumps books were always 50/50 in whether they were good or not, but there were some titles in that series that really did stick with me, either for the cool imagery/monsters or some genuinely scary sequences. How To Kill A Monster gave me nightmares and I adored The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena. Finding one i hadn't got already at a Scholastic book fair or at the school library was always such a thrilling moment.

5. Animorphs - K.A. Applegate

Well, I couldn't mention Goosebumps and not mention the other side of the same coin, could I now? I was never as big an Animorphs fan as I was goosebumps - in fact the reason I first got into it is bc there weren't any Goosebumps left in the kid's section one day at oxfam after school - but I still really enjoyed the books I did read. How often did I fantasise about being able to turn into a tiger or something because of these books? I only ever read about 5 or 6 of them, but it was fun to get a different perspective in each one & go on these mini-adventures, plus the concept behind the Yerks was just so terrifying as a child. No one to trust! I doubt I'll ever read every book, but I'd love it if netflix or someone did a Stranger Things-esque modern adaptation of it.

6. The Beano

While we're talking about childhood nostalgia, I gotta bring the Beano up. I happen to be a Gold Member of the Beano Club and you bet I've still got the card to prove it! I loved getting these delivered every week, seeing what Dennis, or Minnie, or Roger were getting up to. Though I was originally a staunch Dennis The Menace fan, Roger the Dodger soon became my fav. Always loved it when they did a crossover too, and soon enough I had a gigantic collection of Beano Annuals, both new and old dating back to the 60s. The word 'obsessed' gets bandied around a fair bit these days, but I don't think I'm being hyperbolic when I say I was obsessed with The Beano. I even had Dennis The Menace bubble bath at one point.

7. The Amazing Spider-Man - Stan Lee & Steve Ditko/John Romita

So I grew up with the Toeby/Raimi movies & loved them, plus just loved Spider-Man as a character. I've consumed a lot of SM related content over the years but I was genuinely surprised by how much I connected with the original comic run - a few years ago I got some TASM omnibus books, collecting the original issues & fan-letters which was super-cool to read just to see the original context of the character and how he grew from an obscure one-off to one of the most beloved comic-book characters today. My granny was going through a rough time around then, so I really connected with Peter's devotion to looking after his Aunt May. Sure, there were cheesy moments and some certain outdated things, but it was still really cool. I already knew I loved Spider-Man generally, but reading those Omni-Busses really cemented Peter Parker as one of my favourite fictional characters of all time.

8. Green Lanterns - Sam Humphries

Let's stick on the comic front for a moment. Green Lanterns is a comic run from a few years back, following two new Earth Green Lanterns who get chosen at the same time - Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. They start as rivals but develop a really fun and close friendship as they have to work together.

However, what really cements this run in my heart is Jessica's character specifically - she may be a Green Lantern but she also suffers from extreme anxiety and the series doesn't shy away from the realities of what living with anxiety can be like. Especially as i was going through my own struggles with anxiety/depression at the time, I connected hard with that aspect of it. Plus, Sam Humphries, the writer, also suffers from anxiety, so knows how to depict it. It spoke to me on such a fundamental level and I love the reoccurring theme with Jess's character - that being a GL isn't about having no fear, but having the ability to overcome great fear - and she does that every morning convincing herself to get out of bed and go out into the world. That was something that really resonated with me.

Also the story itself is really cool, well-told and enjoyable to read. It's one of the only modern comic runs that I've bought every volume for, I was that invested.

7. The Cursed Child

This makes the list, not because I loved it, but because I FUCKING HATED IT. Since I've already mentioned I grew up with the LOTR movies and the Raimi Spider-Man trig, you can probably gather I also grew up with Harry Potter. I'm not as big on HP now as I once was, for a variety of reasons, but I still grew up with it and liked it a lot. I remember being excited for Cursed Child when it was announced. I remember getting the script-book for a decent price. I remember reading the first 20 pages or so, thinking 'okay... this isn't exactly what I was expecting.' And once the Candy-Lady started throwing muffin hand-grenades, that was probably when this turned into a hate-read for me. It wasn't all bad - some of it was just odd. But it felt like such a let-down, rehashing ideas from the original HP stories instead of being it's own thing, completely ignoring established traits of characters & established rules of the universe and also did I mention being fucking terrible. I was studying story-structure & story telling as part of my uni degree when I read this and let me tell you I was seething by the time I finished because of how bad the story was. Thinking back on it now still fills me with a potent rage. It is genuinely one of the worst books I've ever read. And I know people say 'oh it's better when you see on stage with the effects and everything' but that doesn't stop the base story from being absolute trash. I could go on and on about how much I hated this, but for now I'll say this is a book that made me - made me realise how much I could hate something.

8. A Song Of Ice And Fire - George R.R. Martin

OK let's get more positive. (Yes the show ended badly, good that obligatory disclaimer's out of the way, let's talk about the books now.) ASOIAF makes the list because it's the series that got me back into reading. I read a lot as a child and I read a lot now, but in my early teens I fell out of love with it. However, when Game of Thrones really began to become popular, I realised all my friends were reading the books of the series - and I was behind them. Not only was I motivated to read fast and try catch up, even overtake my friends where they were in the series, this series also showed me what modern fantasy could be. The grounded dangerous world made the stakes feel high, and it can't be denied that GRRM's character work is astounding, plus his intricate plotting in regards to all the intrigue and conspiracies and moving pieces that this series has to juggle is absolutely phenomenal. Juggling multiple characters and storylines across such a large world-map is damn difficult and even if we never do see TWOW, I still commend him for what he's managed to do so far. Not to mention, after I finished Dance With Dragons, I was so consumed by the series that nothing could feel the hole left by not having it to read anymore; it led me to spend two years devouring every fan-theory, sub-reddit, prediction I could find, just for a little taste of ASOIAF. Sure, the show left a sour taste and the wait for TWOW has dampened my level of investment in this series somewhat, but that doesn't take away from the effect it had on me at the time.

9. The First Law - Joe Abercrombie

So what I was saying up there about ASOIAF - How it was a series I was so invested in that when I finished, it was hard to find anything to fill that void? Well, in uni I read The First Law trilogy. Now that was a series I got invested in. I thought ASOIAF's characterisation was good? First Law is on another level. The Blade Itself was somewhat of a slowburn - I enjoyed the characters but did often find myself thinking 'ok but when are our main povs gonna meet? where's this going?' Before They Are Hanged I enjoyed more as it had a more traditional fantasy vibe - ragtag group on a quest, conspiracy in a city, war between armies and such. And then Last Argument of Kings... that book blew my damn mind. The complex characters and their grey morality, the dry humour of it all, the plot twists! The way Abercrombie was able to subvert certain fantasy tropes will still honouring other ones. There was legitimately a moment in Last Arg where I had to put the book down, I was so stunned by one of the big twists. After Last Arg I was pretty sure The First Law was my new favourite book series and reading the Great Leveller trilogy confirmed it. Sharp Ends and the current Age Of Madness books have continued being top quality. First Law has the top spot on my list of faves and it would take a very strong contender indeed to knock it off that throne.

10. The Gentleman Bastard Sequence - Scott Lynch

The Gentleman Bastard Sequence was a very strong contender indeed to knock First Law off that throne. First Law still has it's crown, but I will say I only began GBS this year and it's already cemented in my top ten, possible even as high as second place next to TFL. The Lies Of Locke Lamora was something I read just bc some friends had recc'd it, it was relatively small, and I wanted a book I could read in a week long holiday. I thought I might like it. Imagine my surprise when I absolutely loved it. TLOLL contained one of the most heartbreaking and shocking moments that I've read in fantasy and - devestating as it was - I think it was such a bold choice that that's why I liked it so much. The banter & friendship between the characters, especially Locke and Jean, the way all the flashbacks culminate by the end and you realise why we had them, the physical design of the world these books take place in. It was an excellent read. I liked Red Seas Under Red Skies just as much, if not more than TLOLL and I had so much fun with Republic Of Thieves.

11. The Waking Land Trilogy - Callie Bates

This is a series I finished this year and really loved, especially the 2nd book, The Memory Of Fire, and I want to shout it out because it's not that well known and I say it should be! Each book follows the perspective of a different character in the story - Elanna, Jahan, and Sophy, respectively. Each of them has a really cool backstory & personality, the romance between Elanna & Jahan is so sweet, and like Gentleman Bastards, one of my favourite characters - Rhia - has a caffeine addiction. The magic system in these books is unabshedly magical and very cool, but what really makes these books stand out is that they are written entirely in first-person present-tense. The sense that the things that are happening to these characters are happening Right Now is very engaging, especially in tense or action scenes. It's a very cool series with fun characters & magic and a really good story at it's heart. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't heard of this one.

12. The Farseer Trilogy - Robin Hobb

Again, one I only read this year, but still was absolutely gripped by. Regal's villain monologue from the end of Assassin's Apprentice blew me away - now that's how you write a villain speech! Plus the exploration of how scary telepathy can be, the character of Fitz and his friends, his relationships with The Fool, and Burrich, and Verity and Nighteyes; all good stuff. It's easy to see why this is considered a classic.

13. The Kingkiller Chronicle - Patrick Rothfuss

This series was a big highlight from last year. The Name of the Wind was an incredible read, I loved getting to know Kvothe's character, loved the intricacy of the magic system and all of the segments that take place at the University. I do agree with the majority that The Wise Man's Fear meandered a little too much, but it did contain some fantastic sequences - the early continuation of Kvothe and Ambrose's rivalries, and the fight in the forest were particular highlights. Also The Slow Regard Of Silent Things was a beautifully written book and a really cool insight into the mind of Auri and how she works as a character. I'll reserve full judgement of the series for when (if) The Doors Of Stone comes out, but so far it's been a very enjoyable series to read.

14. Mistborn: The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson

I just recently read the first Mistborn book and loved it. Getting through a 700+ page book in less than a week is way faster than I normally read, so that should tell you that I got pretty damn invested in what was going on. Kelsier and Vin were fantastic characters & I loved everyone in the heist crew. More than that - so a few years ago I tried out Stormlight Archive and had a very tough time getting into it, which led me to just kind of write-off Sanderson for a while - however, reading Mistborn and liking it so much has renewed my faith in him and made me really want to have another proper go at Stormlight again. And, of course, I can't wait to finish the rest of Mistborn Era One.

15. Captain Underpants - Dav Pilkey

Let's end with a curveball, shall we? So, I read these books as a kid and loved them - they were funny, campy, goofy and just a good time. I was always jealous of George and Harold being best friends who lived next door to each other! However, what really gets them their place on this list is the fact that George and Harold put together their own comic books and sold them on the school playground. Being the impressionable sponge of a child I was, this inspired me to start making my own comic books when I was in Primary School, coming up with my own characters and stories, drawning them out and stapling the pages together, ink on my hands. If I'd never read these, I might never have made my characters 'Remo' or 'Pluto Penguin.' I might never had rediscovered those characters and modernised them into the OCs that they are today. I've released five of my own comic books online so far (shameless plug) and I'm currently writing some short stories to explore them/the world more, and the fact that the protaganists of Captain Underpants (of all things) were themselves comic creators, played no small part int he inception of that part of my life. So that's why Captain Underpants series makes it onto the 'books that made me' list.

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Okay, that's my list of books that made me I guess. I'm sure there's something I've forgotten lol, but I had fun thinking up these and writing them!

Oh goodness, I really don't know who to tag in this, so I'll just say that If you see this & want to do it you can absolutely consider yourself tagged by me. Even you. Yes, you!

#tag game #books that made me #books #reading #bookblr #lotr #the silmarillion #gentleman bastards #the first law #jessica cruz #green lanterns #spider-man #yes good #the waking land trilogy #the waking land #et al