Ilia Danner Grubbs, Christina Bieber Lake, and special guest Brian Grubbs discuss the female characters in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien
KNOWING
A little background on our experiences with Tolkien’s work
READING
- The main women of Middle Earth
- Galadriel, Arwen, Eowyn, Rosie, Lobelia, Goldberry, Luthien
- Notable minor characters: the entwives, Shelob, Gilraen, Ioreth, and several more in the Silmarillion
- Does Tolkien write women “well”?
- Medieval tropes
- the virgin/the witch/the mother
- the confined/obedient vs unconfined/troublesome women?
- Are they complex and realistic in their actions and experiences?
- Is he guilty of the “Valkyrie Reflex?”
- Medieval tropes
- What gender roles do we see/not see in these books?
- Katherine Hasser notes an interesting lack of gender roles in Hobbit society
- Eowyn goes against the traditional female role
- What theological ideas do we see through the women of LOTR?
- Biblical allusions/metaphors
- Overarching themes centered around them?
PASSING ON
Christina: Chapter 11 of Simone De Beauvoir’s The Second Sex
Brian: Amon Sul Podcast
A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War
Ilia: Letters from Father Christmas