Here you’ll find a selection of my published scholarship on Tolkien, northern heroic traditions, and myth. These articles explore how ancient narratives shape modern literature and imagination. Full texts are available through Academia.edu and linked below.
The Noldorization of the Edain: The Roman-Germani Paradigm for the Noldor and Edain in Tolkien's Migration Era
2021, Tolkien and the Classical World
As they come into contact with the Eldar, the wandering Edain of the First Age show a pattern of acculturation similar to the 'Romanization' that the Germanic confederations of the Migration Era showed while coming into contact with the Roman Empire. It is not a pattern that Tolkien set out to purposely introduce but rather the natural progression of a wandering people coming into contact and acculturating to a superior hegemonic presence. The Edain adopt Fingolfian norms and values as attested to in the various texts, but the texts are also written through the eyes of the Elvish chroniclers-through a lens of interpretatio noldoraria-and they narrate a process of Noldorization in the course of events during the First Age. This Noldorization consists of vassal relationships, military support and buffer zones, the education of aristocratic youth in Noldorin royal courts, the language acquisition of Sindar (the language of the Grey Elves), and the adoption of new Elvish-influenced traditions and material culture. In effect, the Edain confederation, like the Germanic confederations of the fourth and fifth centuries in the Roman Empire, progresses through a three-stage process which transform their political units from gentes (the three Edain houses) to a regna (ultimately, Númenor).
Galadriel and Wyrd: Interlace, Exempla and the Passing of Northern Courage in the History of the Eldar
2020, Journal of Tolkien Research
Two important characters in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Legendarium are pivotable to a Germanic narrative of the Eldar: Fëanor and Galadriel. Fëanor pivots the narrative of the Eldar to one resembling the Germanic heroic epic by invoking a wyrd, through his free choice, against himself and the Noldor who followed him, which leads to their doom. Galadriel, on the other hand, as the last of the Noldorin rebels and a penitent, pivots the fatalistic and heroic Elvish narrative to eucatastrophe through own her free will and choice. This article examines First Age themes of free will, banishment and exile, doom and providence through textual cue such as the spatial imagery, tonality, and character action. In doing so, themes and motifs become clearer and interweave together to form a rich tapestry of the Eldar’s Germanic narrative. This tapestry of Germanic heroism, or Northern courage as Tolkien called it, comes to an end with Galadriel’s eucatastrophe as she resist the temptation of the One Ring as well as ancient desires. The eucatastrophe allows the penitent Galadriel to not only redeem herself but also the remnant Noldor in Middle-earth. Galadriel, through her own redemption and consequently the redemption of the remnant Noldor, ends the Germanic narrative in the Lord of the Rings.
Elessar Telcontar Magnus, Rex Pater Gondor, Restitutor Imperii
2020, Journal of Tolkien Research
The nature of the heroic-ethos changes in the late Third Age of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Legendarium. At the beginning of the First Age, a Germanic ethos that Tolkien called the theory of Northern courage accompanied the exile of the Noldor. However, at the dawn of the dominion of Men, a new ethos emerges. It is an ethos of hope rather than the “sad light of fatalism” of the “long defeat.” This ethos is exemplified, ad bono exemplum, in the character of Aragorn who fuses the old ethos and tradition into a new ‘pseudo-chivalry’ appropriate for the Age of Men. Examining Aragorn’s inherited core traditions and his great deeds in contrast to our own historical examples helps us to understand the nature of the changing heroic ethos in Tolkien’s Legendarium. By contrasting Aragorn, his coronation and kingship with our own literary and historical Charlemagne and Carolingian heroic poetry, the role of the Renewal King becomes clearer and we may understand this ‘fusion’ of new and old within Tolkien’s illustrative narrative of Middle-earth.
The 'Wyrdwrīteras' of Elvish History: Northern Courage, Historical Bias, and Literary Artifact as Illustrative Narrative
2020, Mythlore
Tolkien’s legendarium writings display a subtle command of the perspectives and aims of different storytellers, as this examination of the many “chroniclers of Elvish history” and their various motivations demonstrates. At the meta-level, the paper discusses Tolkien’s own historiographical aims in using these different voices to advance sometimes opposing views of military motive and courage.
The Dance of Authority in Arda: Wyrd and Providence in the Elder Days of Middle-earth
2023, Hither Shore: Interdisciplinary Journal on Modern Fantasy Literature
Exploring the relationship between fate, wyrd, and providence in the context of Tolkien's work and the Old English text of Boethius, the paper argues that Tolkien's understanding of divine order allows for more flexibility in human agency compared to Boethius. By examining how these concepts interact, particularly through the lens of the Alfredian tradition, it highlights a unique narrative structure in Tolkien's Legendarium that emphasizes moral choice and the potential for alternate outcomes in Middle-earth.
Original Sin in Heorot and Valinor
2014, Tolkien Studies
This essay explores the interplay of heroism and sin in the works of Tolkien, particularly as it relates to the Germanic ethos. It argues that Tolkien's narratives reflect a complex understanding of heroism, characterized by cycles of cause and effect stemming from Original Sin as exemplified by Fëanor's actions. The paper emphasizes the theme of Northern courage found in ancient Germanic literature, recognizing both its admirable and critical aspects, and discusses how these themes contribute to the larger narrative structure in Tolkien's writings.