#shelob

That is the last known living child of the being of the abyss that destroyed the trees of light you’re referring to. That’s not a spider it is a demigod of an unfathomable evil beyond Sauron’s BOSS.

Maybe this explains where I've been since I last posted online: I just finished dreaming of Mordor as a comfy abode despite all appearances. And yes, there is no pool of lava. It's just a hot spring down there.

Mount Doom is Sauron's secret sauna.

Heh.

"Tolkien and Rape; Sexual Terror, Sexual Violence, and the Woman’s Body in Middle-earth" by T. S. Miller and Elizabeth Miller contains #1 an excellent examination of Shelob's often remarked upon 'monstrously-feminine sexuality' #2 a robust (if still too nervous for my liking) critique of Tolkien's treatment of rape in all his body of work, and #3 a whole new anecdote about Tolkien's medievalist scholarship that I had never heard about. This anecdote is also, crucially, so fucking embarassing for him like it has to be read to be believed.

The paper is (I think?) pretty approachable apart from the quotes that are in middle english. And somehow a bit funny too! Which I understand is strange to say about an article discussing rape but look;