Tom Emanuel
@realtomemanuel.bsky.social
UCC minister. Theologian. Tolkien scholar. PhD on The Lord of the Rings and Post-Christianity @ University of Glasgow. Dad. He/him. All views my own.
Blog: queerandback.substack.com
Contact: thomas.emanuel(at)glasgow.ac.uk
Blog: queerandback.substack.com
Contact: thomas.emanuel(at)glasgow.ac.uk
Pinned
Tom Emanuel
@realtomemanuel.bsky.social
· Nov 20
What manner of man is this whom you have followed? Allow me to introduce myself with a short 🧵:
Hi! I'm Tom, a progressive Christian theologian, Tolkien scholar, and researcher with the Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow.
Hi! I'm Tom, a progressive Christian theologian, Tolkien scholar, and researcher with the Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow.
And my TBR pile of scholarship that I haven't had time to read this fall while I wrangled my thesis into shape, lol. Still, having time to read stuff that has nothing to do with work will be pretty cool.
November 25, 2025 at 11:43 AM
And my TBR pile of scholarship that I haven't had time to read this fall while I wrangled my thesis into shape, lol. Still, having time to read stuff that has nothing to do with work will be pretty cool.
I've not read a single work of fiction not written by J.R.R. Tolkien since I started my PhD more than three years ago - all of my brain's available pore space has been saturated with scholarship. One great thing about submitting my thesis soon (!!!) is that I can finally start in on my TBR pile.
November 25, 2025 at 11:43 AM
I've not read a single work of fiction not written by J.R.R. Tolkien since I started my PhD more than three years ago - all of my brain's available pore space has been saturated with scholarship. One great thing about submitting my thesis soon (!!!) is that I can finally start in on my TBR pile.
I think you once told me something alone the lines of, "If Tolkien his legendarium was perfectly congruent with Catholic orthodoxy, the Holy Office might have something to say about that!" I come back to that often, lol
November 22, 2025 at 12:26 PM
I think you once told me something alone the lines of, "If Tolkien his legendarium was perfectly congruent with Catholic orthodoxy, the Holy Office might have something to say about that!" I come back to that often, lol
Yeah, I had Flieger in the back of my mind while writing this thread, as I often do when writing about Tolkien.
November 22, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Yeah, I had Flieger in the back of my mind while writing this thread, as I often do when writing about Tolkien.
Tolkien's Roman Catholicism could offer explanations, but that only goes so far when you're in pain. In Arda, though, he felt safe to ask the questions to which he already had "answers" in the Primary World. Arda doesn't have to conform to the Primary World. It's "only fantasy," after all.
November 22, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Tolkien's Roman Catholicism could offer explanations, but that only goes so far when you're in pain. In Arda, though, he felt safe to ask the questions to which he already had "answers" in the Primary World. Arda doesn't have to conform to the Primary World. It's "only fantasy," after all.
Tolkien isn't in the business of giving final answers. If he was, he would've written a systematic theology, not a legendarium. His work is one giant thought experiment, a space where he—and we—can grapple with our biggest questions. If theology is Job's friends, Middle-earth is Job.
Death as the Gift of Men is so obviously Tolkien trying to square the brutal reality of loss with his Christian belief in Death as the wages of sin. For 60 years he wrestled with what might be humanity's greatest existential problem. He offers back, not a religious answer, but a religious question.
November 22, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Tolkien isn't in the business of giving final answers. If he was, he would've written a systematic theology, not a legendarium. His work is one giant thought experiment, a space where he—and we—can grapple with our biggest questions. If theology is Job's friends, Middle-earth is Job.
Death as the Gift of Men is so obviously Tolkien trying to square the brutal reality of loss with his Christian belief in Death as the wages of sin. For 60 years he wrestled with what might be humanity's greatest existential problem. He offers back, not a religious answer, but a religious question.
November 22, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Death as the Gift of Men is so obviously Tolkien trying to square the brutal reality of loss with his Christian belief in Death as the wages of sin. For 60 years he wrestled with what might be humanity's greatest existential problem. He offers back, not a religious answer, but a religious question.
It's profoundly telling that the mythology Tolkien created in the wake of his parents' deaths, the loss of his beloved English countryside, and the slaughter of his best friends in WWI centers on the tension between mortals who wished they didn't have to die and immortals who wished they could.
"Fairy-stories are made by men not by fairies. The Human stories of the elves are doubtless full of the Escape from Deathlessness." (J.R.R. Tolkien, "On Fairy-Stories")
D&D elves: lol you die?? You die of old age?? After like 70 years? Lmao. You're like vermin to us. You're like a shitty animal
Silmarillion elves: you can "die"?? What the FUCK is that??? Where do you GO? Why can't I come??? *foaming at mouth* why the fuck do you get to go to 'Die' and not me
Silmarillion elves: you can "die"?? What the FUCK is that??? Where do you GO? Why can't I come??? *foaming at mouth* why the fuck do you get to go to 'Die' and not me
November 22, 2025 at 11:26 AM
It's profoundly telling that the mythology Tolkien created in the wake of his parents' deaths, the loss of his beloved English countryside, and the slaughter of his best friends in WWI centers on the tension between mortals who wished they didn't have to die and immortals who wished they could.
"Fairy-stories are made by men not by fairies. The Human stories of the elves are doubtless full of the Escape from Deathlessness." (J.R.R. Tolkien, "On Fairy-Stories")
D&D elves: lol you die?? You die of old age?? After like 70 years? Lmao. You're like vermin to us. You're like a shitty animal
Silmarillion elves: you can "die"?? What the FUCK is that??? Where do you GO? Why can't I come??? *foaming at mouth* why the fuck do you get to go to 'Die' and not me
Silmarillion elves: you can "die"?? What the FUCK is that??? Where do you GO? Why can't I come??? *foaming at mouth* why the fuck do you get to go to 'Die' and not me
November 22, 2025 at 11:06 AM
"Fairy-stories are made by men not by fairies. The Human stories of the elves are doubtless full of the Escape from Deathlessness." (J.R.R. Tolkien, "On Fairy-Stories")
I presented my research to a group of fantasy scholars who aren't Tolkienists yesterday and they asked brilliant questions, ones I've never had in Tolkien studies spaces before. It reminded me how important it is to get even one layer out of your scholarly bubble. Diversify your academic portfolio.
November 22, 2025 at 10:34 AM
I presented my research to a group of fantasy scholars who aren't Tolkienists yesterday and they asked brilliant questions, ones I've never had in Tolkien studies spaces before. It reminded me how important it is to get even one layer out of your scholarly bubble. Diversify your academic portfolio.
I love the wild digressions in Les Mis. They are 100 percent Necessary.
November 21, 2025 at 6:02 PM
I love the wild digressions in Les Mis. They are 100 percent Necessary.
Thank you! It won't be ready for others to read for a while yet, but this round of revisions is finally turning it into the book I've wanted it to be for a long time.
November 17, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Thank you! It won't be ready for others to read for a while yet, but this round of revisions is finally turning it into the book I've wanted it to be for a long time.
It's fascinating to experience something, then instantly think of my characters, how these splinters of my psyche would respond—*have* responded, even—to that same experience in fiction. Reading my life through my story. Some people have an internal family system. I have an internal fantasy system!
November 17, 2025 at 10:21 AM
It's fascinating to experience something, then instantly think of my characters, how these splinters of my psyche would respond—*have* responded, even—to that same experience in fiction. Reading my life through my story. Some people have an internal family system. I have an internal fantasy system!
Verlyn Flieger suggests that, by the end of his life, JRRT had spent so much time in his Secondary World, it began to fuse with his Primary World. The two "double-exposed" on top of each other so that he interpreted the one through the other. That's definitely been my experience of writing fantasy.
November 17, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Verlyn Flieger suggests that, by the end of his life, JRRT had spent so much time in his Secondary World, it began to fuse with his Primary World. The two "double-exposed" on top of each other so that he interpreted the one through the other. That's definitely been my experience of writing fantasy.
I've been revising my own fantasy novel lately, and it's so lovely to spend time with this story and these characters who mean so much to me. It's very different from Middle-earth, but it does help me feel connected to Tolkien, that sense of getting to live inside this world you've helped create.
November 17, 2025 at 10:21 AM
I've been revising my own fantasy novel lately, and it's so lovely to spend time with this story and these characters who mean so much to me. It's very different from Middle-earth, but it does help me feel connected to Tolkien, that sense of getting to live inside this world you've helped create.
Reposted by Tom Emanuel
Excited this issue is out as well! I have a review of Tom Hillman’s excellent book (Pity, Power, and Tolkien’s Ring): muse.jhu.edu/pub/20/artic...
November 15, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Excited this issue is out as well! I have a review of Tom Hillman’s excellent book (Pity, Power, and Tolkien’s Ring): muse.jhu.edu/pub/20/artic...
I’ve now turned in the first round of revisions to this sucker. Mercifully minimal ones too - turns out that writing 14 hours a day for 6 weeks straight paid off. Now I have time to catch up on all the things I **should** have caught up on in October. 🙃
There will be revisions before I submit this sucker in December, but by God, I wrote a PhD thesis.
November 15, 2025 at 4:54 PM
I’ve now turned in the first round of revisions to this sucker. Mercifully minimal ones too - turns out that writing 14 hours a day for 6 weeks straight paid off. Now I have time to catch up on all the things I **should** have caught up on in October. 🙃
I hate reviews that are just a recitation of a book's contents. I want to engage critically with an author's ideas. But like Bart Simpson writing on a chalkboard, I constantly have to remind myself: "A review is not an article. A review is not an article. A review is not an article. A review—"
Tom, reviewing a work of Tolkien scholarship: "hmmmm, I think I need to revisit my notes on ritual theory from a couple years back and also read six new articles on liturgics and eucharistic theology"
Narrator: "he did not, in fact, need to do that"
Narrator: "he did not, in fact, need to do that"
November 15, 2025 at 2:39 PM
I hate reviews that are just a recitation of a book's contents. I want to engage critically with an author's ideas. But like Bart Simpson writing on a chalkboard, I constantly have to remind myself: "A review is not an article. A review is not an article. A review is not an article. A review—"
Tom, reviewing a work of Tolkien scholarship: "hmmmm, I think I need to revisit my notes on ritual theory from a couple years back and also read six new articles on liturgics and eucharistic theology"
Narrator: "he did not, in fact, need to do that"
Narrator: "he did not, in fact, need to do that"
November 15, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Tom, reviewing a work of Tolkien scholarship: "hmmmm, I think I need to revisit my notes on ritual theory from a couple years back and also read six new articles on liturgics and eucharistic theology"
Narrator: "he did not, in fact, need to do that"
Narrator: "he did not, in fact, need to do that"
Reposted by Tom Emanuel
Tom beat me to it! I'm thrilled this is out in the world 🎉 It's my first publication in a book, so I'm feeling very sentimental about it all. This is Sauron as biblical femme fatale paper. The VOD is still live, I think, but if you want to read the more polished version in print... you now can! 👁
Another new publication! Thrilled to receive my contributor copy of Númenor, the Frail and Mighty reach print, also featuring @clarelmoore.bsky.social, @mercuryreads.bsky.social, @aranelparmadil.bsky.social, @putriprihatini.bsky.social, and more. Mazel Tov to editor @willsherwood.bsky.social too!
November 15, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Tom beat me to it! I'm thrilled this is out in the world 🎉 It's my first publication in a book, so I'm feeling very sentimental about it all. This is Sauron as biblical femme fatale paper. The VOD is still live, I think, but if you want to read the more polished version in print... you now can! 👁
"'By the Waters of Anduin We Lay Down and Wept': Exilic Theology in the Akallabêth," began, like the other essays in the book, as a paper at the Tolkien Society Seminar 2023. I later expanded it into an article in the journal Mallorn with a very similar title. You can find a PDF over at my blog!
Article: By the Waters of Anduin We Lay Down and Wept
Tolkien's Akallabêth and the Prophetic Imagination
queerandback.substack.com
November 15, 2025 at 2:22 PM
"'By the Waters of Anduin We Lay Down and Wept': Exilic Theology in the Akallabêth," began, like the other essays in the book, as a paper at the Tolkien Society Seminar 2023. I later expanded it into an article in the journal Mallorn with a very similar title. You can find a PDF over at my blog!
Another new publication! Thrilled to receive my contributor copy of Númenor, the Frail and Mighty reach print, also featuring @clarelmoore.bsky.social, @mercuryreads.bsky.social, @aranelparmadil.bsky.social, @putriprihatini.bsky.social, and more. Mazel Tov to editor @willsherwood.bsky.social too!
November 15, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Another new publication! Thrilled to receive my contributor copy of Númenor, the Frail and Mighty reach print, also featuring @clarelmoore.bsky.social, @mercuryreads.bsky.social, @aranelparmadil.bsky.social, @putriprihatini.bsky.social, and more. Mazel Tov to editor @willsherwood.bsky.social too!
Tolkien Studies is locked behind a paywall, so if you'd like to read this article, or any other for that matter, let me know and I'm more than happy to give you a hand with that. ;)
November 15, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Tolkien Studies is locked behind a paywall, so if you'd like to read this article, or any other for that matter, let me know and I'm more than happy to give you a hand with that. ;)
The new issue of Tolkien Studies is finally out! I'm delighted to feature as the new contributor to the journal's annual bibliographic review, "The Year's Work in Tolkien Studies," in theology and philosophy - taking over from the esteemed @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net is an honor.
Project MUSE - The Year's Work in Tolkien Studies 2021
muse.jhu.edu
November 15, 2025 at 11:11 AM
The new issue of Tolkien Studies is finally out! I'm delighted to feature as the new contributor to the journal's annual bibliographic review, "The Year's Work in Tolkien Studies," in theology and philosophy - taking over from the esteemed @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net is an honor.
Seems like a good time to pick up Interrupted Music and A Question of Time then, since I was relying library copies...
November 15, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Seems like a good time to pick up Interrupted Music and A Question of Time then, since I was relying library copies...