maedhrosrussandol:

meaninglessprose:

asgardian–angels:

awildellethappears:

contemporaryelfinchild:

allonsymiddleearth:

Lord of the Rings is so complicated because we don’t just have canon vs not canon we have

• was-in-the-trilogy book canon
• contradicting from a different book canon
• movie-verse canon
• Tolkien mentioned it in a letter once canon
• Christopher Tolkien speculated canon
• fanon
• wikipedia accepts it as canon even though it’s not 100% sure canon

like how are you even supposed to keep track of all that

Don’t forget

• Tolkien changed his mind but you’re not sure which version you like better canon
• Early ‘mythology for England’ canon
• Tolkien implied it in a letter once canon
• Fan movie canon
• Tolkien never actually made up his mind so choose a headcanon

Also worth noting: 

• Christopher Tolkien changed his mind canon
• Omissions even from the HoMe that are only found in obscure linguistic journals or tertiary literature canon
• Changing language concepts canon
• Minor works canon

wouldn’t want to exclude

• only mentioned in the Parma Eldalamberon
  
• half-indecipherable scribble on the back of a scrap of paper in a pile of Tolkien’s notes that suggests a major lore change but Christopher just couldn’t figure out that last word
•  Well it’s not not canon
• the difference in interpretation of a significant interaction due to the changing of a single word between drafts B and C
• Tolkien might have mentioned it to C.S. Lewis once?? But he’s not talking

All ruled by:

Unreliable Narrator 

All of this.