Web of Women
Working Bibliography for Feminist Tolkien Book
This bibliography is both a work-in-progress and overlaps with some of my other bibliographies (especially the one covering “Feminist/Gender/Queer” scholarship on Tolkien. I’m pulling together material for my planned feminist book on Women and Tolkien. So if you know of any publications I’m missing (peer-reviewed, or analytical online essays on Substack or other online platforms, let me know in the comments! Ditto if a link is broken, or bad, or you see any other errors!
It is too long for email, so feel free to click over to the app or to Substack online.
First: an invaluable resource from The Tolkien Society: a chronological list of Tolkien’s major publications!
Noad, Charles E. Books by J. R. R. Tolkien. The Tolkien Society. Updated by Ian Collier and Daniel Helen. Link.
A-B-C
Abrahamson, Megan. "J.R.R. Tolkien, Fanfiction, and 'The Freedom of the Reader.'" Mythlore, vol. 32, no. 1, 2013, pp. 55-74. Link.
Agan, Cami D. "Lúthien Tinúviel and Bodily Desire in the Lay of Leithian." In Croft and Donovan, pp. 168-188. Link.
Amendt-Raduege, Amy. "Revising Lobelia." In Vaccaro and Kisor, pp. 77-93. Link.
Armstrong, Helen. "Arwen." In Drout, 2007, pp. 38-39. Link.
Artamonova, Maria. “Edith Tolkien in the Eye of the Beholder.” Thanks for Typing: Remembering Forgotten Women in History, edited by Juliana Dresvina, Bloomsbury Academic, 2021. Publisher Link.
Barclay, Chris. J.R.R. Tolkien’s Women of Middle-earth: Including Sir Peter Jackson’s Women of Middle-earth. Independently published (September 6, 2024).
Basso, Ann McCauley. "Fair Lady Goldberry, Daughter of the River," Mythlore, vol. 27, no. 1, article 12, 2008. Link.
Beal, Jane."Saint Galadriel?: J.R.R. Tolkien as the Hagiographer of Middle-earth.” Journal of Tolkien Research, vol. 10, iss. 2, article 2, 2020, Link.
Benvenuto, Maria Raffaella. "Against Stereotype: Éowyn and Lúthien as 20th-Century Women." In Weinreich and Honegger, pp. 31-54. Link.
Błaskiewicz, Maria. "Tolkien's Queen-Women in The Lord of the Rings." In Kowalik, 2013, pp. 69-91. Link.
Brown, Sara. “Éowyn it was, and Dernhelm also”: Reading the ‘Wild Shieldmaiden’ Through a Queer Lens." Journal of Tolkien Research, vol. 18, iss. 2, Article 4. Link.
Bunting, Nancy, and Seamus Hamill-Keays. The Gallant Edith Bratt: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Inspiration. Comarë Series no. 46, Walking Tree Publishers, 2021. Publisher Link. Review Link.
Campbell, Lori M., editor. A Quest of Her Own: Essays on the Female Hero in Modern Fantasy, McFarland, 2014. Publisher Link.
Carter, Susan. "Galadriel and Morgan le Fey: Tolkien's Redemption of the Lady of the Lacuna," Mythlore, vol. 25, no. 3, article 8, 2007, pp. 71-89. Link.
Coker, Cait and Karen Viars. "Looking for Lothíriel: The Presence of Women in Tolkien Fandom." The Lord of the Rings, edited by Lorna Piatti-Farnell. Intellect, 2015, pp. 74-82. Link.
Colvin, Kathryn. "‘Her Enchanted Hair’: Rossetti, ‘Lady Lilith,’ and the Victorian Fascination with Hair as Influences on Tolkien." Mythlore, vol. 39, no. 1, 2020, pp. 133-148. Link.
Coutras, Lisa. Tolkien's Theology of Beauty: Majesty, Splendor, and Transcendence in Middle-Earth. Palgrave, 2016. Specifically Chapter 8, “The Song of Luthien,” and Part VI “On Women” (Chapters 13, “Tolkien and Feminist Criticism,” 14 “The Transcendental Feminine, and 15 “The Renunciation of Power.”). Publisher Link. Review.
Craig, David M. "'Queer Lodgings': Gender and Sexuality in The Lord of the Rings." Mallorn, vol. 38, Jan. 2001, pp. 11–18. Link. Rpt. “Queer Lodgings: Gender and Sexuality in The Lord of the Rings - Reprinted with a New Introduction by the Author.” Mallorn, no. 61, 2020, pp. 20–29. Link.1
Croft, Janet Brennan. Tolkien and Shakespeare: Essays on Shared Themes and Language. McFarland, 2007. Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy 2. Series Editors Donald Palumbo and C. W. Sullivan III. Publisher Link. Review.
Croft, Janet Brennan, and Leslie Donovan, editors. Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J. R. R. Tolkien. Mythopoeic P, 2015. Publisher Link. Review.
Croft, Janet Brennan, and Annika Röttinger. “Something Has Gone Crack”: New Perspectives on J.R.R. Tolkien in the Great War. Comarë Series No. 41, Walking Tree Press, 2019. Publisher Link. Review.
Crowe, Edith L. “Power in Arda: Sources, Uses and Misuses,” Mythlore, vol. 21, no. 2, article 40, 1996. Rpt. In Croft and Donovan, 2015, pp. 136-49. Link.
D-E-F
Donovan, Leslie A. Approaches to Teaching Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and Other Works. Modern Language Association of America, 2015. Publisher Link. Review.
Donovan, Leslie A. “The Valkyrie Reflex in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: Galadriel, Shelob, Éowyn, and Arwen.” Tolkien the Medievalist, edited by Jane Chance, Routledge, 2003, pp. 106–32. Rpt. Croft and Donovan, 2015, pp. 221–57. Link.
Doughan, David. “Tolkien, Sayers, Sex and Gender,” Mythlore, vol. 21, no. 2, article 53, 1996, pp. 356-59. Link.
Doughan, David. "Women, Oxford and Tolkien." Mallorn, vol. 45, 2008. p,. 16–20. Link.
Downey, Sarah. "Cordial Dislike: Reinventing the Celestial Ladies of Pearl and Purgatorio in Tolkien's Galadriel," Mythlore, vol. 29, no. 3, article 8, 2011. Link.
Downs, Jack M. "'Radiant and Terrible': Tolkien's Heroic Women as Correctives to the Romance and Epic Traditions." In Campbell, 2014, pp. 55-75. Link.
Drout, Michael D. C., editor. J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment. Routledge, 2007. Publisher Link. Project Muse Link. Retrospective by a Contributor.
Drout, Michael D. C. “The Influence of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Masculinist Medievalism.” Medieval Feminist Newsletter, 22, 1996, pp. 26-27. Link.
Duarte Rufo, Alline. “A Constituição do Corpo Pela Alteridade Bakhtiniana: de O Silmarillion de J. R. R. Tolkien às Mulheres Negras Brasileiras (The constitution of the body by Bakhtinian alterity: from The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien to black Brazilian women).” Letrônica, vol. 14, no. esp (sup.), Dec. 2021, pp. 1–11. Link.
duPlessis, Nicole M. “On the Shoulders of Humphrey Carpenter: Reconsidering Biographical Representation and Scholarly Perception of Edith Tolkien.” Mythlore, vol. 37, no. 2, article 4, 2019, pp. 39–74. Link.
Eaglestone, Robert, editor. Reading The Lord of the Rings: New Writings on Tolkien's Trilogy, Continuum, 2006. Publisher Link. Review.
Enright, Nancy. "Tolkien's Females and the Defining of Power." Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature, vol. 59, no. 2, 2007, pp. 93-108. Rpt. In Croft and Donovan, 2015, pp. 118-135. Link.
Fenwick, Mac Mythlore, vol. 21, no. 3, article 4, 1996, pp. 17-23; 51. Link.
Fife, Ernelle "Wise Warriors in Tolkien, Lewis, and Rowling," Mythlore, vol. 25, no. 1, article 11, 2006. pp. 147-62. Link.
Fifteenth Century Feminist. “Lord of the Rings: A Feminist Manifesto for the Boys: A Practical Guide to Overthrowing the Patriarchy.” 15th Century Feminist. Substack. Link.
Fisher, Jason. "Galadriel." In Drout, 2007, pp. 227-8. Link.
Fredrick, Candice and Sam McBride. "Battling the Woman Warrior: Females and Combat in Tolkien and Lewis," Mythlore, vol. 25, no. 3, article 4, 2007, pp. 29-42. Link.
Frederick, Candice, and Sam McBride. Women Among the Inklings: Gender, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams, Greenwood, 2021. Publisher Link. Review.
G-H-I
Goselin, Peter Damien. “Two Faces Of Eve: Galadriel and Shelob as Anima Figures,” Mythlore, vol. 6, no. 3, article 1, 1979. Link.
Hansen, Christopher. "The Monstrous Feminine: Ungoliant, Shelob, and Women in Tolkien’s Middle-Earth," Crossroads, no. 34, Nov. 2021, pp. 4-15. Link.
Hatcher, Melissa McCrory. "Finding Woman's Role in The Lord of the Rings," Mythlore, vol. 25, no. 3, article 5, 2007. pp. 43-54Link. . Link.
Hesser, Katherine. "Éowyn." In Drout, 2007, pp.168-69. Link.
---. "Goldberry." In Drout, 2007, pp. 244-6. Link.
---. "Melian." In Drout, 2007, pp. 412-3. Link.
Heierli, Kathrin. “Finding the Feminine in Tolkien.” Amon Hen, vol. 290, Aug. 2021, p. 17. Link.
Holtz-Wodzak, Victoria. "Tolkien Sidelined: Constructing the Non-Combatant in The Children of Hurin," Mythlore, vol. 33, no. 2, article 9, 2015, pp. 93-109. Link.
Hopkins, Lisa. “Female Authority Figures in the Works of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams,” Mythlore, vol. 21, no. 2, 1996, article 55, pp. 364-66. Link.
Houghton, John Wm. "Ungoliant." In Drout, 2007, p. 687. Link.
House-Thomas, Alyssa. “"Fair as Fay-Woman and Fell-Minded”: Tolkien’s Guinever.” The Inklings and King Arthur: J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, C. S. Lewis, and Owen Barfield on the Matter of Britain, edited by Sørina Higgins, Apocraphile Press, 2017, pp. 333–66. Publisher Link. Review.
Hughes, Shaun F. D., editor. "J. R. R. Tolkien Special Issue." Mfs: Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 50, iss. 4, Winter 2004. Review.
I-J-K
Jensen, Anika. “Flowers and Steel: The Necessity of War in Feminist Tolkien Scholarship.” Tolkien Studies, vol. 16, 2019, pp. 59–72. Link.
Johnson, Janice. “The Celeblain of Celeborn and Galadriel,” Mythlore, vol. 9, no. 2, article 5, 1982, pp. 11-19. Link.
Kane, Douglas Charles. Arda Reconstructed: The Creation of the Published Silmarillion. Leihigh UP, 2011.Publisher Link. Review.
Kisor, Yvette L. "'Elves And Hobbits Always Refer to the Sun as She': Some Notes on a Note in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings." Tolkien Studies, vol. 4, 2007, pp. 212-222. Project Muse Link.
Kisor, Yvette. “‘The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun’: Sexuality, Imagery, and Desire in Tolkien’s Works.” Tolkien Studies, vol. 18, 2021, pp. 19–62. Project Muse Link.
Klinger, Barbara. "What Do Female Fans Want? Blockbusters, The Return of the King, and U.S. Audiences." Watching The Lord of the Rings: Tolkien's World Audiences, edited by Martin Barker and Ernest Mathijs, Media and Culture vol. 3, Peter Lang, 2008, pp. 69–82. Publisher Link.
Kowalik, Barbara, editor. 'O, What a Tangled Web': Tolkien and Medieval Literature, a View from Poland. Cormarë Series no. 29, Walking Tree P, 2013. Publisher Link. Review.
Kowalik, Barbara. "Elbereth the Star-Queen Seen in the Light of Medieval Marian Devotion." In Kowalik, 2013, pp. 93-113.
L-M-N
Lakowski, Romuald Ian. "The Fall and Repentance of Galadriel," Mythlore, vol. 25, no. 3, article 9, 2007. Rpt. In Croft and Donovan, 2015, pp. 153-167. Link.
Lakowski, Romuald I. "'Perilously Fair': Titania, Galadriel, and the Fairy Queen of Medieval Romance." In Croft, 2007, pp. 60-78. Link.
Larini, Gloria. “To Die for Love. Female Archetypes in Tolkien and Euripides.” Tolkien and the Classics, edited by Roberto Arduini et al., Walking Tree, 2019, pp. 25–34. Publisher Link. Review.
Larsen, Kristine. "“I Am No Man”: Éowyn and Game of Thrones’ Lyanna Mormont," Journal of Tolkien Research, vol. 12, iss. 1, article 5, 2021, Link.
Larsen, Kristine. "Guinevere, Grímhild, and the Corrigan: Witches and Bitches in Tolkien's Medieval Narrative Verse." Journal of Tolkien Research, vol. 4, no. 2, 2017. Link.
Larsen, Kristine. "Medieval Organicism or Modern Feminist Science? Bombadil, Elves, and Mother Nature." In Vaccaro and Kisor, 2017, pp. 95–108. Link.
Larsen, Kristine. "The Power of Pity and Tears: The Evolution of Nienna in the Legendarium." In Croft and Donovan, 2015, pp. 189–203. Link.
Łaszkiewicz, Weronika. "J. R. R. Tolkien’s Portrayal of Femininity and Its Transformations in Subsequent Adaptations." Crossroads. A Journal of English Studies, vol. 11, no. 4, 2015, pp. 15-28. Link.
Lemburg, Flora Sophie. "Guþcwen and Ides Ellenrof – The Old English Warrior Woman as Role Model for Female Characters in Tolkien’s Works," Journal of Tolkien Research, vol. 12, iss. 2, article 8, 2021. Link.
Linton, Phoebe C. "Speech and Silence in The Lord of the Rings: Medieval Romance and the Transitions of Éowyn." In Croft and Donovan, 2015, pp. 258-280. Link.
Leibeger, Carol A. "Women in Tolkien's Work." In Drout, 2007, pp. 710-12. Link.
Măcineanu, Laura. "Feminine Hypostases in Epic Fantasy: Tolkien, Lewis, Rowling." Gender Studies, vol. 14, no. 1, Dec. 2015, pp. 68–82. doi:10.1515/genst-2016-0005. Link.
Măcineanu, Laura. "Masculine and Feminine Insights Into the Fantastic World of Elves: J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Muriel Barbery’s The Life of Elves." Gender Studies, vol. 15, no. 1, Dec. 2016, pp. 270–283. doi:10.1515/genst-2017-0018. Link.
McCormack, Una. "Finding Ourselves in the (Un)Mapped Lands: Women's Reparative Readings of The Lord of the Rings." In Croft and Donovan, 2015, pp. 309-326. Link.
Michel, Laura. "Politically Incorrect: Tolkien, Women, and Feminism." In Weinrich and Honegger, 2006, pp. 55-76. Link.
Miesel, Sandra. "Life-Giving Ladies: Women in the Writings of J. R. R. Tolkien." Light Beyond All Shadow: Religious Experience in Tolkien's Work, edited by Paul E. Kerry and Sandra Miesel. Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 2011, pp. 139-52. Publisher Link.
Miller, John. "Mapping Gender in Middle-earth," Mythlore, vol. 34, no. 2, article 9, 2016. Link.
Miller, T. S., and Elizabeth Miller. “Tolkien and Rape: Sexual Terror, Sexual Violence, and the Woman’s Body in Middle-Earth.” Extrapolation, vol. 62, no. 2, June 2021, pp. 133–56. Publisher Link.
Moore, Clare. "Elmar, Aerin, and Aredhel: Female Enslavement in Tolkien’s Legendarium," Mythlore, vol. 43, no. 1, article 9, 2024, pp. 143-166. Link.
Moore, Clare."Goddess and Mortal: The Celtic and the French Morgan le Fay in Tolkien’s Silmarillion," Mythlore, vol. 41, no. 1, article 12, 2022, pp. 200-18. Link.
Myers, Doris T. “Brave New World: The Status of Women According to Tolkien, Lewis, and Williams.” Cimarron Review, 17, 1971, pp.13-19.
Neville, Jennifer. "Women." In Eaglestone, 2006, pp. 101-10. Link.
O-P-Q-R
Partridge, Brenda. “No Sex Please--We’re Hobbits: The Construction of Female Sexuality in The Lord of the Rings.” J. R. R. Tolkien: This Far Land, edited by Robert Giddings, Critical Studies Series, Vision (UK), Barnes & Noble (US), 1983, pp. 179–97. Link.
Rateliff, John. "The Missing Women: J. R. R. Tolkien's Lifelong Support for Women's Higher Education." In Croft and Donovan, pp. 41-69. Link.
Rawls, Melanie. “The Feminine Principle in Tolkien,” Mythlore, vol. 10, no. 4, article 2, 1984. Rpt. in Croft and Donovan, pp. 99-117. Link.
Ray, Stella M. Constructions of Gender and Sexualities in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings. Texas A&M U, Commerce, 2011, 1303-03. vol. 72.
Rees, Shelley. "Women Students and The Lord of the Rings: Showing Them Where They Fit In." In Donovan, 2015, pp. 150-156. Link.
Reid, Robin Anne. “Celebrating ‘Queer Lodgings.’” Note, Mallorn. iss. 61, Winter 2020. pp. 31-31.Link.
Reid, Robin Anne. "The History of Scholarship on Female Characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Legendarium: A Feminist Bibliography." In Croft and Donovan, 2015, pp. 13-40. Link.
Reid, Robin Anne. "Light (noun, 1) or Light (adjective, 14b)? Female Bodies and Femininities in The Lord of the Rings." In Vaccaro, 2013, pp. 98-118. Link.
Reid, Robin Anne. "Thrusts in the Dark: Slashers' Queer Practices." Extrapolation, vol. 50, no.3, 2009 pp. 463-483.
Reid, Robin Anne. "Women & Tolkien: Amazons, Valkyries, Feminists, and Slashers," Journal of Tolkien Research, vol. 6. iss. 1, article 3, 2018, Link.
Ringel, Faye. “Women Fantasists: In the Shadow of the Ring.” In J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances: Views of Middle-earth, edited by George Clark and Daniel Timmons. Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy, no. 89, Greenwood Press, 2000, pp. 159-171. Review of anthology link.
Ripley, Aline. "Feminist Readings of Tolkien." In Drout, 2007, pp. 202-3. Link.
S-T-U
Schlesinger, Lynn. “Angels of Care and Houses of Healing in World War I: Their Possible Influence on Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.” In Croft and Röttinger, 2019, pp. 287-318. Link.
Schroeder, Sharin. "She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Ignored: Gender and Genre in The Lord of the Rings and the Victorian Boys' Book." In Croft and Donovan, 2015, pp. 70-96. Link.
Seaman, Gerald. "Lúthien." In Drout, 2007, pp. 396-7. Link.
Simon, Derek. "The Enigma of Goldberry: Tolkien’s Narrative Braiding of Genre- and Symbol-Related Vocabularies in the Withywindle River-Daughter," Journal of Tolkien Research, vol. 15, iss. 2, article 2, 2022, Link.
Smith, Melissa. "At Home and Abroad: Éowyn's Two-fold Figuring as War Bride in The Lord of the Rings," Mythlore, vol. 26, no. 1, article 12, 2007. Rpt in Croft and Donovan, 2015, pp. 204-17. Link.
Smol, Anna. "Gender in Tolkien's Works." In Drout, 2007, pp. 233-5. Link.
Solomons, Sunny. "Tauriel in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug." Amon Hen, vol. 246, 2014, pp. 13-14.
Startzman, L. Eugene. “Goldberry and Galadriel: The Quality of Joy,” Mythlore, vol. 16, no. 2, article 14, 1989, pp. 5-13. Link
Sturgis, Amy H. "Reimagining Rose: Portrayals of Tolkien's Rosie Cotton in Twenty-First Century Fan Fiction," Mythlore, vol. 24, no. 3, article 10, 2006, pp. 165-87. Link.
Taylor, Taryne Jade. "Investigating the Role and Origin of Goldberry in Tolkien's Mythology," Mythlore, vol. 27, no. 1, article 13, 2008, pp. 147-56. Link.
Thum, Maureen. "Hidden in Plain View: Strategizing Unconventionality in Shakespeare's and Tolkien's Portraits of Women." In Croft, 2007, pp. 229-50. Rpt. In Croft and Donovan, 2015, pp. 281-305. Link.
Trenk, Christian S. "“And each day after they did likewise.” Looking at Life Together as the Fulcrum of Éowyn’s and Faramir’s Love Story," Journal of Tolkien Research, vol. 19, iss. 2, article 2. Link.
Tubbs, Patricia. "Juliana." In Drout, 2007, pp. 313-7. Link.
U-V-W-X-Y-Z
Vaccaro, Christopher, editor. The Body in Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on Middle-Earth Corporeality. McFarland, 2013. Publisher Link. Review.
Vaccaro, Christopher, and Yvette Kisor, editors. Tolkien and Alterity. Palgrave, 2017. Publisher Link. Review.
Viars, Karen and Coker, Cait. "Constructing Lothiriel: Rewriting and Rescuing the Women of Middle-Earth From the Margins," Mythlore, vol. 33, no. 2, article 6, 2015, pp. 35-48. Link.
Vink, Renée. “The Wise Woman's Gospel. Some Thoughts about 'The Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth.’” Lembas Extra 2004. Rpt. in Gleanings from Tolkien's Garden. Selected Essays, Beverwijk: Uitgeverij IJmond, 2020, pp. 65-82. Publisher Link (Lembas).
Wallace, Anna. "A Wild Shieldmaiden of the North: Éowyn of Rohan and Old Norse Literature." Philament, vol. 17, 2011, pp. 23-45.
Weinreich, Frank, and Thomas Honegger, editors. Tolkien and Modernity 1. Cormarë Series 9. Walking Tree, 2006, Publisher Link. Review.
Whitaker, Lynn. "Corrupting Beauty: Rape Narrative in The Silmarillion." Mythlore, vol. 29, no. 1, article 5, 2010, pp. 51-68. Link.
Williamson, James T. "Emblematic Bodies: Tolkien and the Depiction of Female Physical Presence." In Vaccaro, 2013, pp. 134-56. Link.
Workman, Sarah. "Female Valor Without Renown: Memory, Mourning and Loss at the Center of Middle-earth." In Campbell, 2014. pp. 76–93. Link.
Zettersten, Arne. "Ancrene Wisse." In Drout, 2007, pp. 15-16. Link.
I went back and forth on whether to include Craig’s article because his major focus is on Sam and Frodo’s relationship. The three reasons that I decided to include it are, first, that his overall argument is about how gender roles in England changed during the inter-war period, and I consider Craig’s argument about how Tolkien’s process of revising Éowyn, especially her different fates (dying on the battlefield! vs. marriage, first to Aragorn, then to Faramir), resulted in her being one of the most psychologically developed character in the novel. Second, this essay is an example of an overlap between “feminist” and “gender” studies which is going to be one of the things I tease out in the project. Third, this is a selected bibliography on Women and Tolkien (which includes but is not limited to feminist scholarship!) but also work on female characters. Unofficial Fourrh: I’m a huge fan of Éowyn, and I’m not gonna leave her out.
What a great resource!