Medieval Fantasy in Popular Culture

http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Sauron Sauron was admired by the Elves. He was fair and just. Then he was corrupted by Morgoth’s ways. After Morgoth was defeated and taken away, Sauron repented and pleaded for mercy. When Eonwe told him to go to the west for judgment he refused and instead hid away in Middle-earth. Sauron laid in wait for a long time and when he arose he began corrupting creatures such as orcs and beings including men and building the Dark Tower. He wanted to bring the Elves to his side so he gave them knowledge and gifts. It is through this knowledge the Elves crafted Three Rings of power. Sauron, in secret, began crafting his own ring to rule the Elvish rings. Once he slipped on the ring the Elves knew he was up to no good. The Elves removed the rings and hid them away so Sauron could not find them. Sauron was furious and demanded the rings back. Sauron had also given the Dwarves Seven Rings and Men Nine Rings. The Dwarves never succumbed to his evil, but they did de

Where there is light, shadows lurk and fear reigns. Yet by the blade of Knights, mankind was given hope. Garo: The Animation, known as Garo: Hono no Kokuin (literally meaning The Carved Seal of Flames), is a 2014 anime series, followed by a movie, based on a live action tokusatsu (think Power Rangers and Godzilla-style productions) franchise. The writer is Yasuko Kobayashi, one of, if not the, most prominent female tokusatsu writers in the business, having written Mirai Sentai Timeranger (Power Rangers Time Force), Kamen Rider Den-O, Kamen Rider Ryuki (Kamen Rider Dragon Knight), Samurai Sentai Shinkenger (Power Rangers Samurai), and several others. She has also written several anime scripts, probably the most well known of which is the first eight episodes of Attack of Titan, as well as portions of the Jojo's Bizarre Adventures adaptation. The basic premise of the franchise is that evil creatures, known as Horrors, infest the world. Horrors are born out of, and feast on, the dar

How authors portray the world in their own stories can give us great insight on how they perceived the real world that was around them. It can also help give current readers an explanation or reasoning as to why the authors made certain choices in their writing. An instance of this occurs in J.R. Tolkien’s novels, where current day scholars and fans are trying to understand the use of certain racial stereotypes of characters in his novels. An example of this is the polygenesis theory. Polygenesis theory describes the origin of different races as independent/non-related species. The polygenesis theory has shaped folklore and modern day racial dynamics, which of course echoes into some of our favorite author’s works. It creates a hierarchical society where one ‘species’ dominates over the others. This can clearly be seen in The Silmarillion where each of the species have different origins and creators. Their hierarchal status and racial characteristics are dependent on who

The Racial Hierarchy      In the mind of Tolkien race is a hierarchy and is a determinant to how each individual is treated and treats others. White people are are floating on top of the scale while people of color are sinking beneath it. He demonstrates this ludicrous hierarchy in his famous novel The Lord of the Rings. However is race just a myth that is being glorified and accentuated by the people who created the ideology itself?      The whitest characters are the Elves as they are credited for the characters’ whiteness. As stated in his novel Frodo’s white skin is described as “fair of hue…pail but beautiful with an elvish beauty.” This quote justifies that the only form of beauty and acceptance is having extraordinarily white skin. Another example is how the men of Gondor, the whitest humans, are on the top the hierarchy because they speak in Elvish tongue. Frodo is given the ability to identify men from Gondor because “it was the elvish tongue that they spoke, or one but li

When it comes to characters that have made influencing decisions, its due to their willingness to follow their own desires and have their loyalty to their superiors tested that they are able to make these decisions at all. This can include consequence that could result in demolishing or enhancing their internal desire for a different outcome. Fiction includes this aspect presumably to give more perspectives to a situation especially when issues arises. For example, we can take a look at the backstory of Aulë, the Smith of Arda and creator of the dwarves, than compare this to other powerful myths and stories such as those in Greek mythology and Christian scripture. The story of Aulë begins with his reluctance to wait for the creation of the perfect children of Iluvatar, ones directly envisioned by the first deity of Arda, Iluvatar. So of his own devices he created the dwarves. Like children, they obeyed his command and only acted upon his wishes. However, when he meet with Iluvatar ,