Abstract
As developed in The Lord of the Rings, “queer” is a special term, one uniquely associated with the Hobbits, and Tolkien crafts a very specific set of resonances that embed it in provincial mistrust, a sense of real outside threat, and places within the ancient natural world that appear foundationally opposed to the ordinary realm of civilization. While Tolkien cannot be said to use the word “queer” in its more modern sense of “homosexual” or nonnormative sexual and/or gender identity, he included an owning and even embracing of the term that follows a similar pattern.
Recommended Citation
Kisor, Yvette
(2023)
"“We Could Do with a Bit More Queerness in These Parts”: An Analysis of the Queer against the Peculiar, the Odd, and the Strange in The Lord of the Rings,"
Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 16:
Iss.
1, Article 4.
Available at:
https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol16/iss1/4
Comments
I quote from an unpublished manuscript of Tolkien's in footnote 11 on page 3, for which I have permission from the Tolkien Estate, which I can provide.