Leftist Antisemites Are Really Everywhere On This Hellsite Making & Reblogging Their Posts Like “the

Race in Tolkien Masterpost

I have compiled a list of some of the resources available on the topic of race and racism in Tolkien. By no means is this list exhaustive, and I welcome anyone to include their own additions which I will include and update on the original post when more resources are made available. 

If you are having any trouble accessing any of the links listed below, please shoot me a DM and I can either send you the PDF if it is an article, or a working link if available. 

Last updated 17/09/2022

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@diversetolkien​ — The whole blog honestly, but these posts on Galadriel in particular as Ayesha, and the personification of Manifest Destiny. Her very important take on Eöl is linked below. 

@askmiddlearth​ — now defunct, but they have a downloadable guide on racism in Middle-Earth here. 

@tolkienillustrations’ post 

@itariilles’s post and follow up on my personal experience of racism at a fan event, and the systemic problem of racism in fan spaces. I am looking to write more media interpretation/personal Tolkien essays in the future so keep your eyes peeled! 

@chutzpah-haver’s post on Tolkien’s antisemitism in his portrayal of dwarves. 

Twitter

This thread by Helen Young explaining Tolkien the anti-nazi, but not anti-racist. 

@diversetolkien‘s twitter linked here. 

My twitter here. I will occasionally post about race and Tolkien, but the focus is more generalised on Tolkien fandom, media and reception. 

Youtube

(N.B. searching “Tolkien racism” or any variant will produce… interesting results to say the least. Lots of white people coming to the age-old “ToLKiEN WaSN’T rACIsT He hATEd nAziS AnD WAs A prODuCT oF hiS TiME” arguement. That or it’s the silly SJWs and cultural marxism/relativity yada yada yada.) 

“The Source of the Rings” series by Moth’s Audio and Videos. 

@visibilityofcolor‘s video essay on the “Brute Caricature Trope and its prevalence in media”. Eöl and Aredhel are touched on briefly in the video, but it points out how prevent this trope is in fantasy fiction overall. 

Marlon James, “Our Myths, Our Selves”. The seventh annual J.R.R Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature, Pembroke College, Oxford, 26th February, 2019. https://tolkienlecture.org/

The Prancing Pony Podcast, “114 - Race, Tolkien and Middle-Earth”.

Podcasts

Dani Holtz and Craig Franson, American ID Episode 1 “Eye of Sauron: Rings of Power” touches on the American right’s obsession with Lord of the Rings and the far-right trolls that have flooded Rings of Power with waves of racist and misogynistic hate.

Other blog posts

Echo-Hawk, Roger. “Tolkienland.” Would highly recommend reading all of his blog posts. Link to his book “Tolkien in Pawneeland” listed below! http://tolkienland.wordpress.com/

Fimi, Dimitra. “Was Tolkien Really Racist?”. The Conversation, 2018, https://theconversation.com/was-tolkien-really-racist-108227.

Fimi, Dimitra. “Revisiting Race in Tolkien’s Legendarium: Constructing Cultures and Ideologies in an Imaginary World”. Dimitra Fimi, 2018, https://dimitrafimi.com/2018/12/02/revisiting-race-in-tolkiens-legendarium-constructing-cultures-and-ideologies-in-an-imaginary-world/.

Yatt, John. “Wraiths and Race” The Guardian, 2002, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/dec/02/jrrtolkien.lordoftherings

Crossley, Laura. “Stand, Men of the West! The Battle for Middle-Earth (and Britain)” Film International, 2015, http://filmint.nu/stand-men-of-the-west-the-battle-for-middle-earth-and-britain/

Crossley, Laura, “Multicultural Middle-earth: Constructing “Home” and the Imaginary in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings” Film International, 2014, http://filmint.nu/multicultural-middle-earth-constructing-home-and-the-post-colonial-imaginary-in-peter-jacksons-the-lord-of-the-rings/

BNP, “No 2,110″ The Guardian, 2012, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/dec/20/thefarright.lordoftheringsfilms

Perry, D. and Young, H. “HOW CAN WE UNTANGLE WHITE SUPREMACY FROM MEDIEVAL STUDIES? A conversation with Australian scholar Helen Young”. Pacific Standard, 2017, https://psmag.com/education/untangling-white-supremacy-from-medieval-studies.

No Alternative. “Lord of the Rings and structural Orientalism” No Alternative, 2012, https://noalternative.org/2012/09/14/lord-of-the-rings-and-structural-orientalism/

Hodes, J. “Orcs, Britons, And The Martial Race Myth, Part I: A Species Built For Racial Terror”. James Mendez Hodes, 2019, https://jamesmendezhodes.com/blog/2019/1/13/orcs-britons-and-the-martial-race-myth-part-i-a-species-built-for-racial-terror.

Stone, Ryan. “‘The Daily’ Transcript: Interview With Former White Nationalist Derek Black”. The New York Times, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/podcasts/the-daily-transcript-derek-black.html. The use of LOTR to recruit white nationalism is mentioned. 

Lopes, Reinaldo José. “In the skin of the elves: to what extent is “The Lord of the Rings” tainted by racism?”. Super Interessante, 2022,  Original portuguese: https://super-abril-com-br.translate.goog/cultura/na-pele-dos-elfos-ate-que-ponto-o-senhor-dos-aneis-e-contaminado-pelo-racismo/?fbclid=IwAR2A3DZlYsn56Esr9iWUkfHDGI57b_mBUZj7aFxvfl692A310lf69mKx1ek&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp English Translation: https://super-abril-com-br.translate.goog/cultura/na-pele-dos-elfos-ate-que-ponto-o-senhor-dos-aneis-e-contaminado-pelo-racismo/?fbclid=IwAR2A3DZlYsn56Esr9iWUkfHDGI57b_mBUZj7aFxvfl692A310lf69mKx1ek&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Young, Helen. “The Rings of Power is suffering a racist backlash for casting actors of colour – but Tolkien’s work has always attracted white supremacists”. The Conversation, 2022. https://theconversation.com/the-rings-of-power-is-suffering-a-racist-backlash-for-casting-actors-of-colour-but-tolkiens-work-has-always-attracted-white-supremacists-189963. 

Rambaran-Olm, Mary. “DEAR AMAZON PRIME, I’M NOT A RACIST, BUT WHY ARE YOU DESTROYING MY PRECIOUS MIDDLE-EARTH WITH BLACK HOBBITS?”. Religion Dispatches, 2022. https://religiondispatches.org/dear-amazon-prime-im-not-a-racist-but-why-are-you-destroying-my-precious-middle-earth-with-black-hobbits/ (this article is satirical btw.) 

@diversetolkien. “Maeglin and Eöl, and the Brute Caricature Trope:”. Diverse Tolkien, 2019, https://diversetolkien.wixsite.com/website/post/what-we-can-learn-from-plants.

@weirdnaturalscience. “Our Failure to Address LOTR’s Racism”. tolkienaboutscifi, 2016, https://tolkienaboutscifi.wordpress.com/2016/12/21/our-failure-to-address-lotrs-racism/.

Not really a blog post but Tolkien Gateway has a page on “Racism in Tolkien’s Works”. Treat it with the same degree of skepticism you would on a wikipedia page. 

Published academia

(N.B. The visible academic “authorities” of race and racism in Tolkien are white and this is something one must bear in mind when reading this kind of work. There is a lot of discussion on theory and historical context, but there is little on the harm and stereotypes perpetuated by Tolkien’s racialist thoughts a person of colour may read/perceive differently.)  

Mills, Charles W. “The Wretched Of Middle‐Earth: An Orkish Manifesto ☆”. The Southern Journal Of Philosophy, 2022. Wiley, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/sjp.12477.

I implore you to read this one in particular as it is one of the only existing pieces of postcolonial critique written by a black Jamaican author. It’s hidden behind a paywall, and DM me if you can’t access it through the link above.

Kim, Sue. “BEYOND BLACK AND WHITE: RACE AND POSTMODERNISM IN ‘THE LORD OF THE RINGS FILMS.’” Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 50, no. 4, 2004, pp. 875–907. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26286383.

Rearick, Anderson. “WHY IS THE ONLY GOOD ORC A DEAD ORC? THE DARK FACE OF RACISM EXAMINED IN TOLKIEN’S WORLD.” Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 50, no. 4, 2004, pp. 861–874. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26286382.

Brackmann, Rebecca. “"Dwarves are Not Heroes”: Antisemitism and the Dwarves in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Writing.“ Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature, Vol. 28, No. 3, 2010, Article 7. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol28/iss3/7 

Reid, Robin Anne. "Race In Tolkien Studies: A Bibliographic Essay.” Tolkien And Alterity, 2017, pp. 33-74. Springer International Publishing, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-61018-4_3. Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-61018-4_3. This article can also be accessed by contacting me via DM as I have permission from the author to circulate it in this capacity. 

Baker, Dallas John. “Writing back to Tolkien: gender, sexuality and race in high fantasy.” Recovering history through fact and fiction: forgotten lives, 2017. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom, pp. 123-143. ISBN 978-1-5275-0325-0. Available at: https://eprints.usq.edu.au/33493/#:~:text=It%20suggests%20that%20the%20privileged,arising%20from%20those%20privileged%20readings.

Pratama, Fredy W. et al., “Orientalism and Religious Aspects on Characters and Objects In J.R.R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings : A Semiotic Analysis” Artikel Hasil Penelitian Mahasiswa 2013, I (1): 1-8. Available at: http://repository.unej.ac.id/bitstream/handle/123456789/60741/Fredy%20Widya.pdf;sequence=1

Winegar, Astrid. “Aspects of Orientalism in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.” The Grey Book, Volume 1, 2005. Available at: https://anyflip.com/njuf/pwvi/basic

Redmond, Sean. “The whiteness of the Rings.” Routledge, 2007. Available at: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203939741-13/whiteness-rings-sean-redmond

Fimi, Dimitra. Tolkien, Race, And Cultural History. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. (Amazon UK link)

Young, H. Race And Popular Fantasy Literature. 1st ed. New York: Routledge, 2015. (Amazon UK link)

Echo-Hawk, Roger. Tolkien in Pawneeland. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013. (Amazon UK link)

The tiktok-ification of tumblr is just 🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢

Pro Tip: The Way You End a Sentence Matters

Here is a quick and dirty writing tip that will strengthen your writing.

In English, the word at the end of a sentence carries more weight or emphasis than the rest of the sentence. You can use that to your advantage in modifying tone.

Consider:

In the end, what you said didn't matter.

It didn't matter what you said in the end.

In the end, it didn't matter what you said.

Do you pick up the subtle differences in meaning between these three sentences?

The first one feels a little angry, doesn't it? And the third one feels a little softer? There's a gulf of meaning between "what you said didn't matter" (it's not important!) and "it didn't matter what you said" (the end result would've never changed).

Let's try it again:

When her mother died, she couldn't even cry.

She couldn't even cry when her mother died.

That first example seems to kind of side with her, right? Whereas the second example seems to hold a little bit of judgment or accusation? The first phrase kind of seems to suggest that she was so sad she couldn't cry, whereas the second kind of seems to suggest that she's not sad and that's the problem.

The effect is super subtle and very hard to put into words, but you'll feel it when you're reading something. Changing up the order of your sentences to shift the focus can have a huge effect on tone even when the exact same words are used.

In linguistics, this is referred to as "end focus," and it's a nightmare for ESL students because it's so subtle and hard to explain. But a lot goes into it, and it's a tool worth keeping in your pocket if you're a creative writer or someone otherwise trying to create a specific effect with your words :)

To a homophobe, even the most chaste kiss on the cheek between gay people is exactly as disgusting and degenerate as a hardcore BDSM orgy hosted in the town square, so you may as well ally with the BDSM orgy enthusiasts to throw bricks at the cops who are going to try and arrest all of you together anyway.

ok so apparently TERFs believe that when we say something along the lines of "reblog this post to turn everybody trans by 2050" that we're actually serious.

anyway reblog this post to turn everybody trans by 2050

i wish down with cis bus was real

Do not talk about your abusive family on tiktok. Do not talk about your closeted identity on tiktok. Do not talk about your traumas and mental illnesses on tiktok. Do not talk about your plans to move out from your abusive household on tiktok. Do not talk about the ways you disagree with your bigoted family on tiktok.

Do not attach your face or voice to anything on tiktok that you do not want your family members, neighbors, coworkers, or classmates to see. Be smart and stay safe.

A memo I posted for my production company yesterday that is also a personal statement.

I love the HP series. It genuinely saved my life as a child with depression. I took important lessons from it about standing up for what is right, no matter what, and it helped me grow into the person that I am today, but we can do better. Part of growing up means taking a critical eye to our childhood lessons and sometimes, such as with the Potter series, we will find other, more harmful lessons embedded with the good.

My friends are more important to me than any fantasy world. We can create a real world full of magic, love, & community right here. But that means not tolerating or supporting hate. We deserve fantasy worlds that are community building, not community excluding.

I encourage all my friends who love the Potterverse to pour your money and fandom time into other worlds. I've got recommendations too! Try the So You Want to Be a Wizard series by Dianne Duane or any of the Tortal universe books by Tamora Pierce. I'm also enjoying Linden A Lewis' (very queer) First Sister series.

It's time to let this one go.