September 24, 2019

6. “Strider! What’s Up, Man?”

53 minutes

Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Jared’s choice of topic: friendship!

Friendship in Middle-earth is a key part of many different characters’ lives,

and how it both plays out in stories and simply exists in its own right is

well worth considering, from the primary friendship of Frodo and Sam to many

other examples throughout the legendarium. How does Tolkien’s own

socialization in Edwardian England shape both the friendships of his own life

and his portrayals of it in his writing? Is his near-exclusive focus on male-to-male friendships potentially alienating? What are some counterexamples of

the strong friendships he portrays—friendships that end in disaster, or false

friendships that never were? Perhaps above all else, what makes Tolkien so

open to portraying deep visible emotions in his male friendships, and how does

that contrast with how male friendships are often shown in modern American

creative arts?

Show Notes.

Jared’s

doodle for

the episode showcases what he considers to be the apex of Frodo and Sam’s

friendship, one of the most famed moments in all of Tolkien’s creative work.

Go see Jared at GeekGirlCon in Seattle in mid-November! You’ll be glad you did.

Indeed, we thank everyone again for all their lovely comments so far, and we

do want to especially note Karin Kross’s

reaction to

Oriana’s talking about Celeborn as a purse.

You don’t know John Mulaney’s work? You’re

missing out.

Variety broke the news of Will Poulter’s casting in the Amazon

production. And beyond that...not much is known.

There’s a lot of academic work out there on male relationships in Edwardian

England, though much of it is paywalled. Sarah Cole’s Modernism, Male

Friendship, and the First World

War

is mostly on Google Books, at least!

When it comes to Tolkien’s own deep male friendships in real life and

comparative examples in his work, “Tolkien, Friendship and the Four

Loves” at the Council of Elrond site provides a reasonable overview that

acknowledges the complex social differences and perception between then and

now. Meantime, Anna Smol’s “Male Friendship in The Lord of the Rings:

Medievalism, the First World War, and Contemporary

Rewritings,”

while paywalled, has an extensive abstract.

Homosociality! It’s an

important term.

To say that there’s a lot out there on the

Holmes/Watson

relationship is to understate.

Beregond and Bergil make

for a really enjoyable father/son portrayal in The Lord of the Rings—one could

easily imagine their own story in the larger epic on its own.

Kaila Hale-Stern’s “Let’s Talk About That Queer Subtext in

Tolkien” for the Mary Sue

delves into the portrayal of Tolkien and Smith’s relationship in the 2019

biopic, contrasting it against what we know of the actual friendship.

A Spring Harvest by Geoffrey Bache

Smith, one of Tolkien’s close friends

who died in the war, is available for free reading on Gutenberg.org, including

Tolkien’s preface.

“Dulce Et Decorum Est” by

Wilfred Owen may be the paradigmatic English language poem about World War I

by a poet who perished in the conflict, but of course it is far from the only

one.

You can get the story of Turin and Beleg in The Silmarillion, but the

standalone version The Children of

Húrin with Alan

Lee’s illustrations is even more detailed and deeper.

Gretchen Felker-Martin’s essay in

question is “I Would Have Followed You: Masculine Love and Devotion in

Jackson’s Lord of the Rings.”

Support By-The-Bywater on Patreon.

...more

View all episodes

By Jared Pechaček, Oriana Scwindt, and Ned Raggett

4.8

2929 ratings