It's still so strange to me how apparently taboo it is to like a post on someone's Instagram from a month ago when there are posts still circulating on Tumblr from 1550 BCE
If he didn't want it circulating in 2022 he should have sold better copper
Wait, it got better.
He does this a lot, to my deep surprise in undergrad:
For reference, the reason nobody likes this book and you can press tofu with it is that it’s about 1600 pages long.
It’s also, by all accounts, the origin of Cousin Throckmorton
I'm rereading lotr now and almost done with fellowship, and it's really interesting how Elrond is never ONCE, ever, referred to as an elf (but rather, as a half-elf, Halfelven). not even when boromir is ranting unwelly:
I really love how careful Tolkien is about this! I mainly noticed it with Elladan and Elrohir - I don’t have the books at hand but there’s a scene in the third book where a herald/minstrel/crier or something is addressing a crowd and groups them a la ”ye elves and hobbits and ...” and includes ”sons of Elrond” as a separate racial category.
The interesting conclusion is that Elrond and his kids are not just not considered Elves, but that this is such a common understanding throughout Middle-earth that even unfortunately ranting Boromir and a random guy from Gondor who might not even have ever seen an Elf before automatically split them out into a category of their own. I love teasing out the implications of this.
Yes! I've also noticed it more with Elladan and Elrohir, but there's an interesting description of Elrond as great among Elves and Men, as if (despite his fate lying with Elves) he's both/neither. And, of course, when Aragorn wishes for Elrond as he goes about healing, he describes Elrond not as a better healer because he's an Elf, but because "he is the eldest of all our race, and has the greater power" (ROTK, "The Houses of Healing").
I'm sure you're already familiar with the Elladan and Elrohir passages, but I do have my copy of LOTR with me, and I think the language used around them is really interesting. When they show up with the Dúnedain of the North, Legolas says of them, "they are fair and gallant as Elven-lords; and that is not to be wondered at in the sons of Elrond of Rivendell" (ROTK, "The Passing of the Grey Company"). They are like Elven-lords because they're Elrond's sons, but not actually called Elven-lords.
When we actually see Elladan and Elrohir, we hear: "So much alike were they, the sons of Elrond, that few could tell them apart: dark-haired, grey-eyed, and their faces elven-fair" (same chapter). They look as fair as Elves. But when the Grey Company, including Elladan and Elrohir, goes to the Paths of the Dead:
Reblogging for all the quotes you dug up that I couldn’t because I don’t have the books with me right now! But yes, this is exactly what I was thinking about - how at every possible point in time Tolkien carefully makes sure to separate Elrond + kids into a separate category from Elves.
This is a really interesting analysis! I don’t think I’ve really noticed it before, but it’s very clear now that it’s all been pointed out. It’s also worth noting that Men in general seem to have a more complete relationship with Elrond and his family than with regular Elves: it was perfectly feasible for Boromir to just Go To Rivendell where it wouldn’t have been for him to go to, say, Lothlorien or Thranduil’s kingdom. Gondor’s knowledge of Rivendell is slim but the place is well-thought of, and they have a general idea of where it is and genuinely believe that they will be met with goodwill if they go there. Meanwhile Boromir fears Lothlorien to the point where he almost refuses to go in at all, and he doesn’t quite know what he expects to find, but repeats horrifying and twisted tales that betray a mistrust of proper Elves that has built up over the centuries since Gondor had any real contact with them.
It’s also worth mentioning that there are people in Gondor who are in a way like Elrond; Imrahil, for one, is said to have some Elven blood in him and many of the Gondorian people can claim some descent from Elros, Elrond’s brother who was of the same kind -- there’s a tendency in the fandom to call Elros the human twin and Elrond the Elven one but in reality they were both half-elven, with Elros being more akin to Arwen than, say, Eomer.
It would be really interesting to know what other human cultures in Middle-earth thought of Elrond and Rivendell! We don’t really know much of what the people of Bree or Esgaroth thought of them, and all we really have from Rohan is Eomer’s comment that he finds Arwen more beautiful than Galadriel. Is that in part because Arwen is closer to humanity than Galadriel, and therefore more familiar and comfortable to Eomer? Especially with Eomer being fully human, with no connection to the part-Elven descent that is not uncommon in Gondor.
As usual, this post gives me a ridiculous amount of feelings; but also I can't help but think that the reason it's common knowledge that Elrond and his children are a unique species is that Elrond - and his children - has spent literally 6000+ years having this interaction:
all goofing aside I genuinely don't understand the urge to reimagine Taylor Allison Swift as a secretly queer icon when the pop music scene(TM) is like. literally overflowing with women who actually like women. Gaga and Kesha and Miley and Halsey are right there. Rina Sawayama and Hayley Kiyoko and Rebecca Black and Kehlani and Victoria Monét and Miya Folick if you're willing to get slightly less top 100. Janelle and Demi for them nonbinary takes on liking girls. like what are we doing here. like I'm not even saying you can't enjoy Taylor but why would you hang all your little gay hopes on her.
Isn’t Lady Gaga bisexual?
yes that is indeed why she's on the list of famous women who like women
why have multiple people reblogged this with some horse-assed "um actually most of these people are bi or pan" did I fucking stutter I said they like girls. what is your point. I'm going to kill you.
#op probably has this post muted but the icon is too real.
the icon is because of this post
POV: you make a good post and then encounter tumblr reading comprehension
btw to just clarify for anyone who sees this reblog of this post
op is basically saying something along the lines of "yea ik taylor swift is bi but like. why is she y'all's only lgbtq+ pop icon when there are all these other lgbtq+ people in the pop scene???"
i might have worded this badly but hopefully i got the main point across
hi op here I certainly did not fucking say Taylor Swift is bi
