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Title: Rendering Tolkien's Reality (#929)
Author: PSandusky
Chapters: 5

Archive: Tolkien
Category: Reality Bytes
Description: These are a few considerations regarding the role and integrity of theme in fanfiction based on Tolkien's universe.
Published: 17 May 2004
Updated: 17 May 2004
Warnings:
Type: General
Characters:


Chapter 1 - Introduction

Fanfic authors often dedicate a lot of attention to their use of Tolkien’s characters in their own fics, and rightly so. Failure to render a theme source character properly will ruin a fanfic. Moreover, the appearance of OFC’s alongside those misrepresented source characters will more than likely earn the fic the “Mary Sue” label. Obviously, accuracy of characterization is essential to a properly written fic.

What authors will often forget, however, is the importance of accuracy with regard to their rendition of Tolkien’s world at large. Given that the world itself and its functions tend to shape the characters (what, after all, makes a hobbit belong in Hobbiton, and what makes Hobbiton a hobbit’s home – how are they matched?), changes in the ambiance and the backstory of the cultures and races themselves tend to make the fics themselves deviate from Tolkien’s universe until the tales become chimaerae that don’t exactly fit any particular category and, as such, don’t fit into any category’s top fic lists.

That said, here are a few observations from fics I’ve seen, here written for the purpose of inciting authors to expend a little bit of energy to maintain the integrity of the omnipresent cultural and racial backdrops for Tolkien fic.


Chapter 2 - Cultural Considerations

Cultural Considerations

When writing about a particular culture (or, as is more often the case, writing about one or a few members of a culture), take a little bit of time to examine your plans for the story in light of what is known about the culture involved. Does the clothing fit the fashion for the class and society involved? How about the weaponry? What about language – does your character necessarily understand the conversation in Sindarin or Khuzdul going on only a few feet in front of him? Each culture will have its own standards for style, technology, and language. Your aim as a writer should be to follow those standards. Doing so does not in any way limit an author – far from it, believe it or not. Once the standards for the culture are met with an intention toward maintenance, the author has freedom to develop the story however he or she wishes. On the other hand, deciding to drop out a detail (for instance, not worrying about the fact that a stable boy you’ve just created speaks every language in Arda or even a language not used in Middle Earth) for purposes of writing Middle Earth “your way” might leave some very noticeable marks on your tale that could turn away readers who value theme, and may undermine your story when a reader takes it in relation to what is thematically reasonable for the cultures of Middle Earth. Essentially, this stage of the process is not unlike what designers for films have to do – if they do their job well, no one notices the extra work. If they don’t, their work stands out in the production, and not always in the most flattering way.

Incidentally, bear in mind that you can involve detail without having to describe it explicitly. Showing is almost always preferable to telling. You also don’t have to set out with the intention of writing a veritable cultural studies tome every time you write a fic. Make sure what you want to write works with the culture, and as far as mores in the culture beyond the scope of your story, let someone else do that writing. Your aim as an author of Tolkien fic should be to write your fic such that it presents itself as being a credible account of life in the culture (or cultures) in which it is based in relation to the situations you wish to present.


Chapter 3 - Paging Dr. Aragorn...

Paging Dr. Aragorn…

A personal pet peeve of mine is how people will include aspects of medicine in their stories that will end up far removed from any medical culture in Middle Earth. One such story included one character giving an allegorical explanation of a disease that seemed to have more than a bit of influence from modern medicine. It stood out. Terribly. Even the films missed on this one – for instance, Gimli exclaimed to Legolas that the orc on which the dwarf was sitting twitched because of an axe stuck in its “nervous system.”

A lot of what is understood in the cultures of Middle Earth as relates to medicine is a function of the technology of the period. You will not find microscopes in Aragorn’s Houses of Healing. You will not, by extension, hear healers discussing much of anything related to what would be found by microscope – that is, among other things, they do not practice medicine with an eye toward germ or cell theory. Most of the equipment for study of physiology doesn’t exist, so no one is going to express an understanding of physiology that would come from experimentation using such equipment. Biochemistry and genetics proceed the same way – no one in Middle Earth is going to comment on whether Legolas’ hair color is a dominant or recessive trait in elves, and more than likely Sam is not going to lecture on photosynthesis problems when one of his plants isn’t doing well.

For example, look at a disease like the Black Breath. Now, to modern sensibilities, one would get the idea that the Witch King was busy blasting his opponents with some sort of airborne pathogen. That’s nice and all, and probably shows that you paid attention in science or health classes, but if you choose to write about someone suffering from the affliction, you would not have a legitimate basis for imposing germ theory onto the character’s story, because healers at the time did not deal in terms of pathogens and etiology. Medicine in Middle Earth is largely symptom-based; that is, healers recognize disease and choose treatments by a malady’s signs and symptoms, rather than worrying about what etiologic agent or predisposition is involved. An epidemic, for instance, would still proceed through the population according to the behavior of the pathogen involved coupled with the living style of the population, as it would in our world. A healer in the area may decide to quarantine patients and/or their families, as in our world, but he will do so based on an understanding of how and when a disease will likely manifest (and patients become symptomatic), and not on how the pathogen itself works or on what the individual pathogen is, whereas knowing the pathogen would be vital knowledge in our medical culture.

(As an aside, you may desire to use your skills at writing in Tolkien’s universe as a vector for educating readers on a particular medical issue, and while that is admirable, bear in mind that the pursuit might require a bit of reshuffling regarding how much the characters know or could learn about the issue, or it might require writing the story in a universe that comes with a more advanced medical culture. Again, if what you write in Tolkien’s universe isn’t credible to what was the prevailing understanding in that corner of that universe, you may be doing yourself a disservice by using this genre for what you intend to express.)


Chapter 4 - Awake All Night Long...

All Night Long…

The races of Middle Earth all come with their own innate qualities and features. Each was meant to be unique, but sometimes authors tend to treat one as another with a few additional frills. In particular, portrayals of elves often seem to fall victim to this method of writing. Some authors have them wooing and mating like lords in a human settlement. Others have them bedding down for the night to close their eyes in sleep. In many cases, Tolkien himself was quite clear as to what elves would truly do (as with sleeping, or, in the case of an elf, *not* sleeping), but the fanfic authors aren’t quite all that worried about those details. An elf ends up being a human with a prettier face and a better singing voice.

Don’t be afraid to do some research into the race about which you want to write. _History of Middle Earth_ includes some stout deposits of detail as to elven custom and behavior, and a lot of elf fanfics I’ve read would have done very well to have picked up some basis in those works before they went to the publishing stage. Feel free to ask around in a forum as to whether or not what you propose to do with a character is in theme for the race or culture, and be ready to accept if it isn’t. No, you don’t have to go out and buy books for your shelf. No, you don’t even have to pester your local librarian for a series of interlibrary loans. You should, however, take the time to ask around among your audience, who just might know what is in those sources and can make suggestions regarding whether or not your portrayal fits what is thematically correct for the culture and/or race you want to involve.


Chapter 5 - Conclusion

Conclusion
Ultimately, what you decide to do with your fanfiction is up to you. How your story is received, however, may stem from how well you anchor your story in the Middle Earth theme. By taking the cultural and racial backdrops into account in his or her writing, an author will give his or her fanfiction a dose of the flavor that gives it credibility within the framework of Tolkien’s universe, making it more fulfilling and entertaining to the reader interested in reading stories set in the worlds of Tolkien’s imagination.
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