Oxonmoot 2024

Does the masculine colonizer transfer its madness to its feminine colonized victim? To answer this, I go beyond the approach of analyzing individualistic decisions of characters in Tolkien’s legendarium. Instead, I view their choices as a symptom of past and current colonization by applying the postcolonial concept of the ‘mad woman’ to collective races and their history in Arda rather than the individual. This study is an attempt to further Tolkien postcolonialism scholarship, specifically regarding Orientalism, while simultaneously moving past the separation of the colonizer and colonized in Tolkien’s legendarium.

“[N]othing is evil in the beginning, even Sauron was not so.” These words from The Fellowship of the Ring express both a theological axiom and hint at a character arc whose beginnings we are never shown. The pre-fallen Sauron remained mostly hidden and entirely nameless—until 2007. With the publication of Parma Eldalamberon volume 17 we learned that Sauron had once been “Mairon” (The Admirable). What can we glean from this name amid the dozens of other names and epithets applied to Sauron across the Legendarium? How does “Mairon” compare to names of the other Ainur in general or Sauron’s maia foils Melyanna, Curumo, and Olórin in particular? What might it suggest about the telos of its owner? What about his virtues, vices, and the circumstances of his unshown Fall? In the spirit of Croft’s and Broadwell’s work on onomastics in Tolkien, I will explore these questions with regard to how they help shape a potential “capsule story” for the Lord of the Rings, himself.

Fantasy stories and the elements therein are not necessarily held to scientific standards.  Suspension of reality is accepted–but could there be scientific foundations to explain the properties of the Silmarils? Analyzing the attributes of the Silmarils requires examination of Laurelin and Telperion, the gold and silver light-giving trees of Valinor, and the exploration of biological and chemical possibilities. The construction of the Silmarils is also of interest, leading to investigation of the geological, lapidarical, an alchemical options which would give the gems the ability to shine brightly in darkness, burn the hands of those who hold them, and theoretically be manipulated to allow for the light to someday be released. Delving into various scientific fields, this talk will present both scientific considerations as well as historical curiosities as they relate to Fëanor’s greatest creation.

In this presentation I’ll explain how Tolkien’s reading of the Kalevala led to the writing of his early short story, the story of Kullervo, which resulted in the writing of many versions of the Children of Hurin and impacted his creation of Middle-Earth. I will also note how it became a lifelong obsession to him, which prevented his finalizing the Silmarillion himself.

The main narrative found in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion, the Quenta Silmarillion, contains ninety deaths of named characters, as well as countless deaths of characters who remain unnamed. How these deaths are presented in the text varies, revealing narrative bias that shapes how readers understand the purpose and meaning of The Silmarillion within the wider legendarium. The Silmarillion narrator can be difficult to discern, but my prior research shows the narrator of much of the Quenta Silmarillion is most likely Pengolodh. Presentation of characters—including their death scenes—adhere to his biases, inviting consideration of how other perspectives might produce different "Silmarillions" with varying emphases and prejudices. In this paper, I continue prior research on death and grieving in the Quenta Silmarillion to consider depictions of the Other—characters who are not Noldorin or Sindarin—and how those characters are permitted (or not) to die with dignity and grieve.

For Professor Tolkien, “subcreators” of fantasy never create ex nihilo—only from what is already made. Subcreators wield power to either corrupt (like Morgoth) or correct (like Elves). Tom Bombadil, one of Tolkien’s most mysterious characters, embodies Tolkien’s subcreative theories. Bombadil sang exhortation to the creation in his realm. And, indeed, the Bombadilic Episode (the “Episode”) in The Fellowship of the Ring impacted the hobbits in divinely significant ways as well. This article argues that Bombadil, and the entire Episode, are capable of “allegorical interpretation” as the Church herself. Bombadil, along with his wife, Goldberry, function as the Church for the hobbits during their stay. And, while in his realm, Bombadil functioned as prophet, priest, and king. While there, the hobbits encountered forms of all seven sacraments which Tolkien would have known well. Bombadil’s sacramental provision sustained Frodo until he saw the “far green country under a swift sunrise."