[I. D.: A Tweet By KeithPille.bsky.social On July 16, 2024 Reading, “Worth Thinking About How Long

Have you ever wished there was a comprehensive, easy access resource of Every Tolkien Character Ever? Look no further! Now presenting:

The Tolkien Legendarium Characters Masterdoc!

compiled by @arofili, @ambrorussa aka @welcometolotr, @jaz-the-bard, and @fingons-rad-harp, this spreadsheet contains - to the best of our ability - ALL 1100+ characters that Tolkien incorporated into (or considered for) his Legendarium! this resource is open to the public for perusal and use in your fan projects of all kinds, though its creators are fanfiction writers and we organized the doc with our craft in mind.

we have organized this database by character race/species and Age. each character has attached information on their name(s), cultural/familial affiliation(s), life dates (when known), associated places, textual source, Ages/timeframe of activity, gender, relative canonicity, and brief pertinent information - as well as a link to their page on Tolkien Gateway (our main source) where you can continue your research on any character you choose.

characters of ALL levels of canonicity are represented in this sheet. that includes the wacky, wild stuff from the Book of Lost Tales, as well as Frodo himself! our designations of “how canon” a character is are inherently subjective, and you are free to disagree with our rankings; with this categorization we hoped to give people an idea of what to expect upon exploring the characters yourselves. please consult our Key for information on how we made these decisions. this document is a jumping-off point for your own research!

if there’s something you’d like to sort for that we didn’t provide, you are free to make a copy and reorganize the spreadsheet however you would like. (however, we do ask that you only redistribute the original sheet.)

this sheet includes characters from every text written by Tolkien that we could find information about on Tolkien Gateway. we are only human, and are thus likely to have made some mistakes or missed some characters - if you think that’s the case, please let us know so we can update the document!

if you think there is a character missing, or you would like something added/redacted/altered, contact the sheet owner @arofili on tumblr or annaquenta#6263 on discord and we will consider your request.

in addition to Tolkien’s own characters, we have included some characters who only appeared in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy adaptations. we are open to including characters from other adaptations, but we weren’t familiar enough with those to add them to the document. if you desperately want to see an adaptation-only character in the document, let us know!

we hope this resource is helpful for Tolkien fans of all kinds in learning more about his characters both weird and wonderful! happy headcanoning!

LINK TO THE DOCUMENT: tinyurl.com/TolkMasterDoc

i reread the commentary on Finrod Athrabeth and Andreth a while ago and I just “ Elves could die, and did die, by their will; as for example because of great grief  or bereavement, or because of the frustration of their dominant desires and purposes.” 

I see… so that’s why Feanor let Maglor go to music school lmao.

"Actually in his later writings Tolkien said Maglor died-" *slaps you across the face* fake news I saw him at Dunkin Donuts last night

I like to think that Fingolfin made a big point of making sure that all four of his kids got exactly the same amount of hugs.

He never made a big declaration of it or rubbed it in Finwe's face but it was rather important to him to not repeat that particular mistake

Perhaps there was one kid that he found slightly easier to talk to (maybe Argon since hes the first one to tragically die, or Turgon as they were both on the "stay in tirion" team during the debate) and though this never affected his actions he may have carried the slightest twinge of low level guilt for it

who else in the silm fandom had their worldview on morality, religion, free will, love, loyalty, punishment, redemption, and tragedy profoundly shifted by jirt’s power of words?

But I can’t talk about climactic sentences in Tolkien’s works without mentioning what is, in my opinion, one of the best things that has ever been written in the English language.

And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the City, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of wizardry or war, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn. And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns. In dark Mindolluin’s sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the North wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.

This is unparalleled. This gives me chills every time I read it. It may be my favorite quote in all of Tolkien’s works, except that choosing a favorite quote would be an impossible decision to make. It’s so inspiring. It’s so moving. It’s so heroic. And obviously, it’s a moment of pure eucatastrophe. Rohan had come at last.

And the moment that Pippin hears the horns of Rohan:

When the dark shadow at the Gate withdrew Gandalf still sat motionless. But Pippin rose to his feet, as if a great weight had been lifted from him; and he stood listening to the horns, and it seemed to him that they would break his heart with joy. And never in after years could he hear a horn blown in the distance without tears starting in his eyes.

I LOVE LORD OF THE RINGS SO MUCH

if anyone cares, Putin is not officially stepping down. Only news source as far as I can tell that’s reporting that is the NY Post, which is basically a tabloid, and that report is based on a second hand source. Putin had said nothing, and no reputable news orgs have weighed in as of yet

😂 new HC that a tatooine phone book very much exists 10000%

Boba is written in it twice because somebody wrote Bob Fett by accident once but they never removed it

BOB FETT.

Okay but what if that’s not a mistake at all. And he’s actually just some dude and suddenly people are turning up at his door either like. super pissed at him, or they’re throwing like gifts at his feet to get on his good side and he’s like. So tired of this shit?

“For the last kriffing time, my name is ROBERT. I’m not a bounty hunter?? I’m a research scientist from Bogano! I study bantha droppings. No—no—don’t you dare leave that chest of spice—come back here!!”

Hyphens, en Dashes and em Dashes

Oh- and let’s not forget the minus sign, that thing on your keyboard that can be misused as any one of the above! 

It took me a long time to understand the differences. 

The minus sign                         (-)

The hyphen                               (-)

The en dash                              (–)

The em dash                            (—)

Visually, not much in it, is there?  

But oh what a difference the length makes! 

The minus sign is a mathematical symbol. That’s it. Don’t misuse it for anything else.

The hyphen is used to join two elements to form a compound word, like  self-restraint. Numbers between twenty-one and ninety-nine should also be hyphenated when they’re spelled out. Sherlock Holmes-Watson or John Watson-Holmes (interesting to know which one wins in the battle). You should also use a hyphen in a compound modifier before a noun, as in The Crossed Keys Inn was a dog-friendly pub.

The shorter en dash  is used when describing ranges and with the meaning “to” in phrases like “Dover–Calais crossing.” It applies to ranges of numbers, such as times, page numbers, or scores (I’ll schedule you from 4:30–5:00). That said, outside of formally printed documents, it is increasingly being replaced with a hyphen, so if you miss this one, Sherlock won’t hang you for it. 

The longer em dash (—) is about as wide as the letter M (duh, now I get why it’s called this). It’s used to separate extra information or mark a break in a sentence.  An em dash is most often used to indicate a pause in a sentence. It’s stronger than a comma, but weaker than a period or semicolon. 

You can use a pair of em dashes to draw special attention to parenthetical information, as in

Sherlock—who was wearing the same purple shirt of sex—entered the room carrying his violin..

You can use a single em dash to add explanatory or amplifying information, especially when the information is surprising:

I opened the door and there she stood—Eurus, my long lost sister.

Em dashes can also signal a sudden interruption, particularly in dialogue:

“Wait! I forgot to tell you—” The door slammed shut between us and I missed whatever John was trying to say.

Interestingly, there is no firm rule about spaces around the em dash (either word—word or word — word). It’s a matter of style. Whichever style you choose, use it consistently throughout your document.

The em dash is a relatively artistic punctuation mark, compared to the more technical hyphen and en dash, both of which need to be used accurately in legal contracts, for example. 

“In 1404, King Taejong fell from his horse during a hunting expedition. Embarrassed, looking to his left and right, he commanded, “Do not let the historian find out about this.” To his disappointment, the historian accompanying the hunting party included these words in the annals, in addition to a description of the king’s fall.“

LMFAOOOOOO rip to that guy