This month we are joined by Tolkien professor and scholar, Dr. Sara Brown! Join us for Sara’s lesser-trod path, Feminist criticism of Tolkien’s work! In context of the four waves of feminism, Sara gives us an overview of the past and present of feminist criticism of Tolkien’s work, as well as some thoughts on the future. Thanks for joining us, Sara!
Citations
Thank you to our guest host, Dr. Sara Brown!
How to find Sara:
Bluesky: @aranelparmadil.bksy.social
Sara’s publications can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/DrSaraBrown (Accessed Feb 3, 2025)
Sara on Signum University’s website: https://signumuniversity.org/people/sara-brown/ (Accessed Feb 2, 2025)
Sara’s entry on Tolkienists.org: https://tolkienists.org/sara-brown/ (Accessed Feb 2, 2025)
Sara’s upcoming projects in 2025:
-Look out for the upcoming Oxford Handbook of Tolkien- Sara is contributing a chapter on feminist criticism of Tolkien.
-Look out for an upcoming book about queer readings of Tolkien for which Sara has written a chapter about Shelob as a queer mother.
-With Dr. Kristine Larsen, Sara is editing a collection about Tolkien and psychology for The Journal of Tolkien Research.
-Sara is the keynote speaker for Signum University’s Mythmoot XII- June 19-22, 2025.
-Sara is giving a paper at Leeds International Medieval Congress called, 'No One Listens to Melian: When Women Speak and Men Ignore Them in Middle-earth'- 7-10 July 2025.
-Sara will be at the Tolkien Society’s gathering Oxonmoot, September 4-7, 2025.
From Sara’s outline: (in alphabetical order)
-Cami D. Agan: "Lúthien Tinúviel and Bodily Desire in the Lay of Leithian" from Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Janet Brennan Croft and Leslie A. Donovan, Mythopoeic Press, 2015
-Sara Brown: “‘Éowyn it was, and Dernhelm also’: Reading the ‘Wild Shieldmaiden’ Through a Queer Lens.” from The Journal of Tolkien Research, Volume 18, Issue 2, 2018
https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol18/iss2/4/ (Accessed Feb 2, 2025)
-Edith Crowe: “Power in Arda: Sources, Uses, and Misuses” from Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Janet Brennan Croft and Leslie A. Donovan, Mythopoeic Press, 2015
-Leslie Donovan: "The Valkyrie Reflex in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: Galadriel, Shelob, Éowyn, and Arwen" from Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Janet Brennan Croft and Leslie A. Donovan, Mythopoeic Press, 2015
-Melissa McCrory Hatcher: "Finding Woman's Role in The Lord of the Rings." from Mythlore 97/98, Volume 25, Issue 3/4, 2007
-Lisa Hopkins: “Female Authority Figures in the Works of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams” from Mythlore, Volume 21, Number 2, 1996
-Kristine Larsen: "The Power of Pity and Tears: The Evolution of Nienna in the Legendarium" from Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Janet Brennan Croft and Leslie A. Donovan, Mythopoeic Press, 2015
-Edwin Muir: Review of “The Return of the King” in The Observer on Nov. 27, 1955
-Doris T. Myers: “Brave New World: The Status of Women According to Tolkien, Lewis, and. Williams.” Cimarron Review. 17 (1971): 13-19.
-Brenda Partridge: “No Sex Please–We’re Hobbits: The Construction of Female Sexuality in The Lord of the Rings” from J.R.R. Tolkien: This Far Land, ed. Robert Giddings, New Jersey: Barnes & Noble Press, 1983
-Melanie Rawls: “The Feminine Principle in Tolkien” from Mythlore, Volume 10, Number 4, 1984
-Robin Reid: "The History of Scholarship on Female Characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Legendarium: A Feminist Bibliographic Essay" from Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Janet Brennan Croft and Leslie A. Donovan, Mythopoeic Press, 2015
-Catherine Stimpson: “J.R.R. Tolkien” Published by Columbia University Press, 1969
-J.R.R. Tolkien’s letters - 33a; 38a; 39; 42a; 43; 44; 50; 53; 78; 142; 179a; 250; 267; 331; 332; 340.
Other sources mentioned beyond Sara’s outline:
-Amy Amendt-Raduege “Revising Lobelia” from book “Tolkien and Alterity” (pp.77-93) edited by Christopher Vaccaro and Yvette Kisor, 2017
-The work of Cameron Borquien: https://cameronbourquein.com/ (Accessed Feb 2, 2025)
-The work of Clare Moore: https://tolkienists.org/clare-moore/ (Accessed Feb 2, 2025)
-The work of Mercury Natis: https://lushthemagicdragon.carrd.co/ (Accessed Feb 2, 2025)
-Keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming anthology: ‘Great Heart and Strength:’ New Essays on Women and Gender in the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Cami D. Agan and Clare Moore.
