Bibliography: Disability in Tolkien Studies

Author: Clare Moore

Disability in Tolkien Studies: An Annotated Bibliography

Comer, Todd A. “The Disabled Hero: Being and Ethics in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings.” Mythlore, vol. 35, no. 1, article 8, 2016, pp. 113-131.

Though Comer’s article focuses on Peter Jackson’s film trilogy rather than Tolkien’s texts, he contrasts Frodo and Sauron’s disabilities through Mitchell and Snyder’s narrative prosthesis framework to highlight the opposing ethics of their disabilities.

Fimi, Dimitra. Tolkien, Race and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

Fimi identifies the relationship between Down Syndrome, described as “mongolism” by John Langdon Down, and the European racial hierarchy which placed “caucasoids” above “mongoloids” above “negroids” and Tolkien’s description of the orcs as “mongol types.”

Hillman, Thomas. "The 'Lame' Sovereignty of Melkor and Man -- Disability and Power in 'The Children of Húrin'." Alas, not me, 16 April, 2018, https://alasnotme.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-lame-sovereignty-of-melkor-and-man.html.

Hillman's blog post, based on a conference presentation, introduces a metaphorical interpretation of lameness in the characters of Sador, Brandir, and Morgoth. Hillman begins with pointing out the meaning and narrative role of lameness in ancient Greek and Shakespearean sources, arguing that Tolkien uses lameness as a metaphor for weak leadership that is often contrasted against physically lame characters who are good leaders - and good people. Morgoth, on the other hand, is lame physically and  "lame" sovereign.

Livingston, Michael. “The Shell-shocked Hobbit: The First World War and Tolkien’s Trauma of the Ring.” Mythlore, vol. 25, no.1, article 6, 2006, pp. 77-92.

Livingston analyzes Frodo’s experience through the lens of post-traumatic stress, drawing on Tolkien’s experience of World War I to demonstrate Tolkien’s familiarity with traumatic stress.

Metzler, Irina. “Tolkien and disability: the narrative function of disabled characters in Middle-Earth.” Death and Immortality in Middle-earth, edited by Daniel Helen, Luna Press Publishing, 2017, pp. 35-50.

Metzler, a scholar of medieval disability, identifies three types of disability in Tolkien’s narratives: realistic disability (Sador, Brandir), heroic disability (Maedhros, Beren), and metaphysical disability (Parish, Frodo).

Moore, Clare. “Stigma and the Social Function of Fate in the Story of Túrin Turambar.” Journal of Tolkien Research, vol. 13, no. 2, 2021, pp. 1-15.

Erving Goffman’s work Stigma predates formal disability studies but it proved foundational for disability studies’ understanding of how disabilities are stigmatized relationally and socially. Moore applies Goffman’s formulation of stigma to highlight the social and relational dynamics of Túrin’s fate, demonstrating how his self-perceived stigma and his stigmatization by societies affect the tragic outcome of his story.

---. “Fangorn, the Shire, and Beleriand: Tolkien’s Disabled Landscapes.” The Polyphony, 24, June 2022.

Drawing on the work of Sunara Taylor, Moore analyzes the ecological disablement of Isen and the Shire, arguing for the necessity of the inclusion of disabled figures in the restoration of disabled landscapes and for reframing our understanding of restoration and healing within a disability perspective.

---. “The Problem of Pain: Portraying Physical Disability in the Fantasy of Tolkien.” Tolkien and Diversity, edited by Will Sherwood, Luna Press Publishing, 2023, pp. 191-200.

Moore analyzes the disabled experiences of Maedhros, Beren, Morgoth, and Frodo to situate pain and embodiment within the legendarium’s understanding of disability. The narratives of these characters demonstrates that Tolkien includes pain as part of the experience of physical disability within the legendarium, but he does not dwell on the lived experience of physical disability, and often physical disability is integrated with or subsumed under psychological or spiritual meaning.

Sinex, Margaret. “Wounded by War: Men’s Bodies in the Prose Tradition of The Children of Húrin.” Baptism of Fire: The Birth of the Modern British Fantastic in World War I. Edited by Janet Brennan Croft. Mythopoeic Press, 2015, pp. 23-37.

Sinex argues that the prose versions of The Children of Húrin reveal a steady
engagement with the male body, focusing on disability. Sinex proposes that some of the traits of disability that Túrin demonstrates resonate with symptoms of shell shock, while considering Túrin, Sador, Gwindor, and Brandir together demonstrates a variety of disability experiences in Britain during World War I and the 1920s.

Wodzak, Victoria Holtz. “Tolkien’s Gimpy Heroes.” Mythlore, vol. 37, no. 1, article 7, 2018, pp. 103-118.

Wodzak analyzes the narratives of Sador, Gwindor, Brandir, and Frodo to demonstrate how these characters’ respective societies marginalize them because of their disability and the negative effects this marginalization has on the individuals and society.

---. “Tolkien Sidelined: Constructing the Non-Combatant in The Children of Hurin.” Mythlore, vol. 33, no. 2, article 9, 2015, pp. 93-109.

Wodzak analyzes how female and disabled characters experience times of war, drawing on Tolkien’s own life as inspiration for how he constructed these narratives – including his disabling experience of trench fever.