Research Articles and Critical Essays
The most recently updated articles and essays
- 1. Geopolitics at the end of the Second Age
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Author: Mardil
Last Updated: 03/21/09 Original Post: 01/17/03
Status: General Rating: General Chapters: 1 Word Count: 5,199
Era: Akallabêth/Last Alliance Genre: Research Article Completion: Complete - A research article that examines the strategic and geopolitical situation towards the end of the Second Age, prior to the Downfall of Numenor. Includes a (brief) introduction to geopolititcal themes. Focus on Numenor and Mordor, though the question of the Elven realms and the influence of the Valar is also examined.
- Overview | Go to Chapter One | Read Comments
- 2. The Stars That Varda Made
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Author: Kitt Otter
Last Updated: 12/13/08 Original Post: 12/13/08
Status: General Rating: General Chapters: 1 Word Count: 2,834
Era: Other Genre: Critical Essay Completion: Complete - An essay. Varda kindled the stars and set them into patterns. Many of these stars the Professor named in Elvish, but which real-life stars was he referring to?
- Overview | Go to Chapter One
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3. Wastes of Stump and Bramble Where Once There Were Singing Groves
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Author: rana
Last Updated: 10/06/08 Original Post: 08/11/08
Status: Reviewed Rating: General Chapters: 1 Word Count: 2,329
Era: Other Genre: Critical Essay Completion: Complete - This is my final essay for a third-year university English literature course. The topic was to suggest an outside text (i.e. one not already on the reading list) for this course, "Literature and the Environment," and discuss why this text was relevant, and where it should be placed in relation to the other texts. I got 93%, the highest mark I've ever received on an English lit essay (and honestly, the highest I've ever heard of anyone getting in university!) - and I owe it to J.R.R.! Note: I've retained certain references to other works studied in this course as this was the original intent of the essay, and part of the assignment's uniqueness. (I think!)
- Overview | Go to Chapter One
- 4. Pride and Despair: A Defense of Ecthelion's Son
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Author: Marta
Last Updated: 08/01/08 Original Post: 08/01/08
Status: General Rating: General Chapters: 2 Word Count: 16,941
Era: Multi-Age Genre: Critical Essay Completion: Complete - Denethor is one of the most-criticized characters in Tolkien fandom. Movie-inspired fanons have certainly not done him any favors, but he is disliked and even hated by fans who had read the books long before the movies came out. In this essay I attempt to address some of the most common criticisms against him, and develop a biography of what his life might have been like.
- Overview | Go to Chapter One | Read Comments
- 5. An Elf By Any Other Name
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Author: Marta
Last Updated: 05/19/08 Original Post: 05/19/08
Status: General Rating: General Chapters: 1 Word Count: 5,743
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War Genre: Critical Essay Completion: Complete - ...or, A Short Speculative History of a Certain Elven Emissary. An attempt to construct a history for the emissary sent by Cirdan to the Council of Havens from the hints sprinkled through canon, that also functions as a case history in how to characterize minor characters.
- Overview | Go to Chapter One
- 6. On Canon and Fanfic
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Author: Marta
Last Updated: 03/29/08 Original Post: 03/29/08
Status: Beta Rating: General Chapters: 1 Word Count: 2,724
Era: Other Genre: Critical Essay Completion: Complete - What exactly qualifies as "A.U.?" Is it a negative term? Is any fanfic really canon-consistent, or is it all alternate universe? In this brief essay I attempt to define what precisely I mean when I use this term, and along the way explore the relationship between canon and fanfic in general.
- Overview | Go to Chapter One | Read Comments
