LOTR Rants | Mostly Aralas

an essay on lotr/aralas queerness: INTRO

OKAYYYYYYYYY im posting this here even tho this isn't even CLOSE to done, but i am approx. 5K words into my essay on queerness in aralas/lotr/tolkien in general/the lotr movies and if i wait until i've finished the whole thing y'all will be waiting MONTHS so here: have the intro and the first part please enjoy <3

i'm rushing this intro bc this is MANY MANY MANY words especially for this book which is usually much shorter for chapters and this is written in actual essay format/vocab. like, if i were to submit this to my english teacher as a genuine analysis of tolkien's works, i COULD.

is that a flex??? is that a cry for help??? idek anymore y'all decide.

anyway. here <3

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An Essay on Queerness in the Works and Adaptations of the Works of J. R. R. Tolkien, as Emphasized Through the Fan-coined "Aralas"

Introduction

As we all well know, much before has been said by myself and others of the revolutionary Lord of the Rings fantasy novel trilogy as written by the late Professor J. R. R. Tolkien. It reinvented fantasy, arguablyinvented high fantasy as we know it today, pioneered so many now common character tropes, clichés, and intricacies of the genre. It is a literary masterpiece, unique in its near perfection, something the likes of which will never be written again. Indeed, there is no need to speak of its immaculacy, its mastery, here at length, for I do not doubt that you are aware of it if you have taken the time to read this essay.

Still, perhaps an equal and equally divided amount of commentary has been made on director Peter Jackson's genius adaptation of that trilogy and all that came with it. By all that came with it, of course, I mean that people of all ages, all genders, all orientations in the Lord of the Rings fan community have spent much time discussing and dissecting the topic of queerness in J. R. R. Tolkien's works and the adaptations of those works. With Tolkien having been a devout Christian and yet also a scholar of ancient texts, (ancient, subtextually queer texts, might I add) whatever your opinion on it, the topic of queer relationships, subtexts and not-so-subtexts is doubtless an interesting one in the cadre of Tolkien.

One of the threads of these discussions that interests me more than others, perhaps, is one that originates in how Peter Jackson and his fellow screenwriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, among others, chose to portray the major character of Aragorn, son of Arathorn in their genius adaptation of Tolkien's titular trilogy. In less intelligent words and perhaps more in the form of edits and self-insert fanfiction, related discussions stem in the nature of the character of Legolas Greenleaf, both in said adaptation and in Tolkien's own source material. Both characters are unique and play interesting though widely differing roles in books and films alike, but perhaps more interesting still is the relationship the two share as portrayed in both forms of media, known by a niche-but-growing slice of the Lord of the Rings fan community as Aralas.

Previously, I have spoken of and justified this relationship in the romantic sense lengthily, pulling from scenes in books and movies alike. Though it is not my role in this essay as it is now being written to justify said relationship, as this has been done by me before and is now widely available on the internet for the reading pleasure for any and all who might wish it, it is my role here to give a deeper insight into the relationship between these two characters. This will include an (almost exactly) scene-by-scene analysis of their characters onscreen in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of their originating source material and a further analysis of their two characters separately in said source material. I will also speak on the (as coined by me) "historical inevitability" of the character of Aragorn's canonical romantic relationship with Arwen, daughter of Elrond, and the historical parallels of relationships such as theirs throughout the entirety of Tolkien's legendarium, including that of Aragorn and Legolas. This will lead, inevitably, to an analysis of queerness in general in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, including the annals and lore-volumes that act as prequels to his acclaimed Lord of the Rings novel trilogy.

For the sake of both your sanity and mine, however, I will refrain from adding an analysis on the queer nature of the Hobbit Trilogy, and the fan adored "Bagginshield" with it, for that would inevitably lead to a discussion and critique on those films in general, which would swell the word count of this essay altogether too much. Relatedly, the discussion of adaptations will be limited to Peter Jackson's magnum opus trilogy, for to speak of, erm, later adaptations and their, shall we say, pitfalls, would also take up too many words.

As a bonus and after much unnecessary complication of seemingly simple film scenes and novel lines, I will add a general analysis and commentary on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, as was part of my notes in my most recent re-viewing of the films. This will include a linguistic analysis of the films' scenes containing spoken Sindarin (the widely spoken language of Tolkien's elves) and a commentary and further deep dive into the relationship between the titular characters of Samwise Gamgee and Frodo Baggins as portrayed in the Lord of the Rings trilogy's most beloved adaptation.

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alright i'm posting the intro and the first 'part'/fellowship aralas analysis rn, and i will TRY to get one part of this essay out per week from here on out but seriously NO PROMISES dont take that too intensely

praying for all y'all real ones who are gonna stick around for all of this and ilysm

out ✨