Abby Epplett, Historian

After the Long-Expected Party — and in the case of the hypothetical animated musical, not long after “The Want Song” — Gandalf joined Bilbo in his house and demanded that his hobbit friend give up the One Ring. Bilbo initially reacted badly, as the ring had gained some control over him, but he eventually left the ring to his ‘nephew’, Frodo, along with most of his worldly possessions. Rings have appeared in fiction throughout world literature, spawning dozens of folkloric motifs and inspiring adaptations of ancient stories for stage and film.

If you were a child in the late 19 th through early 20 th century in England, the Long-Expected Party would be an ideal celebration. For character references, consider the interests of the orphans in The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett for the early part of the period, and the Pevensie children in The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis for the later part of the period. The main difference between The Lord of the Rings and these other books is that Tolkien intended his work to be for adults but appropriate for children, perhaps allowing his older readers to reminisce about a happy childhood. Ever-youthful Bilbo may stand in for an energetic grandfather or uncle who was quick to tell jokes and generous with his gift giving. The party scene references fun and noisy things that hobbits and children like, including party toys, fireworks, and even an early railroad. This eclectic collection reminds historically minded readers that the Shire was inspired by late Victori...

I last compared Bilbo’s eleventy-first birthday to famous parties in the summary of Book I, Chapter 1 “A Long-Expected Party” , where I referenced biblical celebrations, parties gone wrong in France, PR stunts in Ancient China, and exclusive musical scores in Great Britain. This installment focuses on what the hobbits might have eaten at that party. While discussing “Prologue, 3 On the Ordering of the Shire” , I determined that hobbits appeared to live in two timelines with their political system and architecture reflecting the early 17 th century or post-medieval period while their technology, interior design, and fashion reflected the early 19 th century or Industrial Revolution. Their foods likewise are split into different time periods, with some staples being invented during ancient times in the Real World, others appearing in Europe due to the trade of the late medieval period, and still others dating from the Victorian era or mid- to late 19 th century. As the self-pr...

Tolkien wrote his legendarium from the 1930s to the 1970s, and while he was ahead of his time in many aspects, he could not have anticipated modern understanding of mental health. He experienced significant childhood trauma and two world wars, which are known to cause mental health disabilities. This installment will not speculate on the state of Tolkien’s mental health and its potential effect on his work. Instead, I will study the text as if it was written by in-universe characters describing themselves and those they know. This will serve as the basis for case studies reviewing explicitly stated symptoms along with the history behind the diagnosis.

My discussion of each chapter will begin with a summary essay highlighting three to five key features presented in the text, while subsequent essays will dive deeper into additional topics. In contrast to the authoritative and comprehensive work, The Lord of the Rings: A Reader’s Companion by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull , which lends insight to the “literary and historical influences” on the text with special focus on European history, linguistics, and events in Tolkien’s own life, I will compare the cultures of Middle-earth to those in the Real World as I have done throughout this series. Of course, that impressive textbook and other Tolkien-focused works will be excellent resources in understanding Tolkien’s worldview and how it affected his “translation” of the text.

This week is my third and final installment about Valar, the archangels or major gods of Tolkien’s Legendarium, along with my last blog post before my winter break. In the first post of this mini-series, I covered five of the most powerful Valar, also known as Aratar: Manwë, Varda, Ulmo, Yavanna, and Aulë. In the second post, I reviewed the three final Aratar and their spouses: Mandos, Vairë, Nienna, Oromë, and Vána. This week has no Aratar, but that does not make these Valar any less fun. This quintet represents dreams, health, wrestling, dancing, and chaos. Just as during the last two installments, each of these characteristics appeared in pagan pantheons of the Western world along with religions across the globe and even modern pop culture.

This is my second week talking about Valar, the archangels or major gods of the Legendarium. In this post, I will cover the final three Aratar or most powerful Valar along with their spouses: Mandos, Vairë, Nienna, Oromë, and Vána. This quintet of Valar is less happy than the set from last week. While the previous five represented kings, queens, the sea, nature, and smithing, this new group personified death, fate, grief, hunting, and more nature. Each of these characteristics were found across Western pantheons in the years before the Christianization of Europe, and many occur in religions outside the West. The popularity of these somber deities showed how people from any walk of life must face its grim realities: everyone will eventually die. Mandos As the Vala who kept the Houses of the Dead, Mandos or Namo was Aratar #6. His “family” was larger than most Valar, since he had a younger sister Nienna and a younger brother Lorien. The brothers even had a special na...

I previously created illustrations for some Maiar, who act as a combination of angels and minor gods in the Legendarium. This week and for the next two weeks, I will talk about Valar, similar to archangels and major gods. This is a slight deviation from what I originally mentioned at the end of “Appendix F, II On Translation” but between the essays getting a bit too long of late, the end-of-year holiday season in full swing, and having an actual job plus side business, I thought a more relaxed pace would be a decent course of action. While only a few members of this race were mentioned in The Lord of the Rings , much information on Valar comes from “Valaquenta” in The Silmarillion . Some groups of Valar considered themselves siblings, perhaps because they were made by Ilúvatar at the same time or with a similar appearance. Spouses apparently did not consider themselves siblings, unlike Greco-Roman gods who had no issue with incest. The top eight Valar were called the Arata...

At last, I arrive at the final section of the appendixes. After a hundred and fifty pages of comparing Middle-earth history to real-world history, I have an even stronger grasp of how Tolkien used his expertise as a philologist and historian to build a fantasy world rooted in fact. This will serve as a solid foundation for future research as I move into the dialog portion of the text and reveal vignettes for the hypothetical animated musical.