Thanks, 'scribe! Mélamírë's ruminations in the beginning are something of a sketch to serve as a backdrop of why she's there. For the future storyline, each one of those paragraphs serves as a seed crystal for an entire chapter (or so), but this was the only way I could figure out how to put things in context.
My take on the paucity of strong female characters in LOTR fan fic is that authors are often afraid to write them for fear of being subjected to the dreaded pejorative "Mary Sue." Sure, a lot of young writers may gravitate toward that particular characterization, and I say, let them enjoy it! I think such characters serve a purpose. Also -- let's face it -- there is not an abundance of named canonical women in Tolkien who are written as fully as some of the male characters are.
That said, there are many excellent interpretations of female canonical characters out there, among them (and I list these because I am familiar with them - I know there are more) Keiliss's Galadriel, Dawn & Rhapsody's respective visions of Nerdanel, Dawn's Lúthien ("An Ordinary Woman") and Eärwen ("Work of Small Hands"), Oshun's ("Princess and the Horse Lord") and Juno-Magic's (Lothiriel: Tenth Walker) wonderfully divergent visions of Lothiriel. I'll also add that although Gandalf's Apprentice's version of Arwen is a supporting character to the protagonist, she is nonetheless fascinating. In G.A.'s works (Sword of Elendil, Arwen in the Afternoon), Arwen definitely carries the aura of the Sidhe: perilously sexual.
As a dyspeptic old lady reading Tolkien again, the lack of so many well-realized female characters hit me hard. There are so many women that exist in Middle-earth as sub-textual ghosts (as Dwimmordene put it -- such a great term), e.g, the wives of Maglor, Caranthir and Curufin; Elros' wife; the wives of Elendil, Isildur and Anárion; the "many daughters" of Aragorn and Arwen. Granted, Tolkien had an abundance of characters in his world and thus likely did not have the time and energy to name them all. Yet I feel like an apologist when I say that. I mean, Elros' wife was the mother of a freakin' dynasty fer cryin' out loud and she was not named. The same could be said for the women of the House of Elendil: just anonymous brood mares. Obviously, I have rather strong opinions on the matter, and part of these are influenced by non-fictional writings from and about the original author (his letters and other accounts).
Upon stumbling into Tolkienian fan fiction, I learned that OFCs were frowned upon and considered anathema by many. So that made me want to write them all the more. [*evil chortle*] Some are characterizations of those sub-textual ghosts, the wives of Elendil and Isildur, for example. Mélamírë is my created vehicle for fictionalized commentary on some of JRRT's themes pertaining to technology, progress and the role of women in such matters. Yep. I have an agenda.
No matter what, there will be those among the gibbering masses who will rend their clothes and tear their hair, all the while shrieking "Mary Sue! Mary Sue!" whenever they encounter any female character that does not adhere to the Tolkienian rubrics of Canon™. To that, I say, "Feh." Give me an OFC like surgicalsteel's Serindë who has characteristics with which I can identify. I can only hope I can do as well with Mélamírë.
Heh. Who knew that your short and sweet remark would prompt this screed? :^D
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Date: 2008-12-27 04:21 pm (UTC)My take on the paucity of strong female characters in LOTR fan fic is that authors are often afraid to write them for fear of being subjected to the dreaded pejorative "Mary Sue." Sure, a lot of young writers may gravitate toward that particular characterization, and I say, let them enjoy it! I think such characters serve a purpose. Also -- let's face it -- there is not an abundance of named canonical women in Tolkien who are written as fully as some of the male characters are.
That said, there are many excellent interpretations of female canonical characters out there, among them (and I list these because I am familiar with them - I know there are more) Keiliss's Galadriel, Dawn & Rhapsody's respective visions of Nerdanel, Dawn's Lúthien ("An Ordinary Woman") and Eärwen ("Work of Small Hands"), Oshun's ("Princess and the Horse Lord") and Juno-Magic's (Lothiriel: Tenth Walker) wonderfully divergent visions of Lothiriel. I'll also add that although Gandalf's Apprentice's version of Arwen is a supporting character to the protagonist, she is nonetheless fascinating. In G.A.'s works (Sword of Elendil, Arwen in the Afternoon), Arwen definitely carries the aura of the Sidhe: perilously sexual.
As a dyspeptic old lady reading Tolkien again, the lack of so many well-realized female characters hit me hard. There are so many women that exist in Middle-earth as sub-textual ghosts (as Dwimmordene put it -- such a great term), e.g, the wives of Maglor, Caranthir and Curufin; Elros' wife; the wives of Elendil, Isildur and Anárion; the "many daughters" of Aragorn and Arwen. Granted, Tolkien had an abundance of characters in his world and thus likely did not have the time and energy to name them all. Yet I feel like an apologist when I say that. I mean, Elros' wife was the mother of a freakin' dynasty fer cryin' out loud and she was not named. The same could be said for the women of the House of Elendil: just anonymous brood mares. Obviously, I have rather strong opinions on the matter, and part of these are influenced by non-fictional writings from and about the original author (his letters and other accounts).
Upon stumbling into Tolkienian fan fiction, I learned that OFCs were frowned upon and considered anathema by many. So that made me want to write them all the more. [*evil chortle*] Some are characterizations of those sub-textual ghosts, the wives of Elendil and Isildur, for example. Mélamírë is my created vehicle for fictionalized commentary on some of JRRT's themes pertaining to technology, progress and the role of women in such matters. Yep. I have an agenda.
No matter what, there will be those among the gibbering masses who will rend their clothes and tear their hair, all the while shrieking "Mary Sue! Mary Sue!" whenever they encounter any female character that does not adhere to the Tolkienian rubrics of Canon™. To that, I say, "Feh." Give me an OFC like
Heh. Who knew that your short and sweet remark would prompt this screed? :^D