Abstract
In discussing J.R.R. Tolkien’s Second Age “Tale of the Mariner’s Wife,” past scholars have used descriptors such as ‘resentful’, ‘strong-willed’, ‘unhappy’ – even ‘misandrist’. There can be no doubt that this is a story of a deeply unhappy marriage between two people with irreconcilable differences, to use the modern parlance of the divorce courts, but it would also be true to say that Erendis seems to come out of the narrative with a more sullied reputation than her husband. In fact, Aldarion appears to have everything he could have wanted, such as his freedom to sail and an heir for his throne, whilst Erendis dies neglected and alone.
It is hard not to read this as a highly gendered story, particularly when viewed through the lens of further discussions on marriage in Tolkien’s legendarium. Reading the story of Erendis through feminist theorists such as Simone de Beauvoir, Judith Butler, and Jack Halberstam, this paper confronts the presentation of Erendis and asks who the author intended us to blame more – the Mariner, or the Mariner’s Wife?
Recommended Citation
Brown, Sara
(2025)
"“Of their women we hear less”: Pride and Prejudice in the tale of ‘Aldarion and Erendis.’,"
Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 22:
Iss.
1, Article 12.
Available at:
https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol22/iss1/12
Included in
Literature in English, British Isles Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Women's Studies Commons
Comments
Paper given at the 'Tolkien at UVM' conference, Vermont, in 2023.