Hosts & Guests
Alicia
(she/they) A queer Tolkien scholar and Zelda nerd interested in adaptation, audience reception, and biography.
Grace
(she/her) An acquirer of books, a queer-rights activist, serves as as the Subscriptions Steward of the Mythopoeic Society, and is a Professional Nerd (okay, technically it’s an unpaid internship).
Leah
(she/her) Just another weird Tolkien geek living in the Grey Havens (also known as Seattle WA) with two rabbits and far too few books.
Resources
Books
Leslie Donovan “The Valkyrie Reflex.” Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J. R. R. Tolkien. Ed. Janet Brennan Croft, Leslie Donovan.
Caroline Criado Perez, Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men.
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Ed. Humphrey Carpenter.
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings.
Julia Shaw, Bi: the Hidden Culture, history, and science of bisexuality.
Articles
Catherine Madsen, “A Woman of Valour: Éowyn in War and Peace.” Mallorn.
Melissa McCrory Hatcher, “Finding Woman’s Role in The Lord of the Rings.”
Brent D. Johnson, “Éowyn’s Grief.” Mythlore.
Websites
Media
Cringe & The Lizards, Bi-Wife Energy.
Emma. “Mental Load” & “Emotional Load”.
About This Episode
The Queer Lodgings team makes our triumphant Pride Month return after a break with our long-threatened series on Eowyn & Faramir! Well… it wasn’t actually planned to be a series… but we recorded for 4 hours total, so decided to break it up into three parts. The first part frames the discussion and jumps into Eowyn’s complex gender identity and presentations, including both trans and non-binary readings of her character. Plus the intricacies of how Eowyn relates to the patriarchal society of the Riddermark and its expected gender roles. Stay tuned for Part 2 on Faramir, and Part 3 on the queer aspects of their relationship!
Featured Art: Matthew Stewart
Related Episodes
Episode 28 – Writing a Book Chapter! (or “Why We Didn’t Record Much in 2025”)
Learn more about the process of academic publishing as Leah and Grace recount their first times writing for academic publishing, guided by Alicia’s experience. Thank you for sticking with us! We have so much more in store for you.
Episode 27 – The Redemption of Lobelia Sackville-Baggins: Petty Thief to Folk Hero
Is Lobelia Sackville-Baggins actually the villain she’s made out to be in “The Hobbit” and “Fellowship”, or simply a victim of narrative bias? Plus JIRT’s “mommy issues” and a contrast of Lobelia as an ‘Aunt’ archetype with biographical information about Tolkien’s own family.
Episode 26 – Tolkien Adaptations Part 3: “The War of the Rohirrim” with Janet Brennan Croft
A discussion about “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” with the film’s credited “Tolkien Expert”, Janet Brennan Croft! We discuss her approach to encourage lore accuracy and consistency in the film’s script, explore queer readings of the film, and even the history of Japanese tentacle “art.”