Warm Beds are Good: Sex and Libido in Tolkien's Writing
An Essay by Tyellas
Click here to read the essay Warm Beds are Good: Sex and Libido in Tolkien's Writing in .PDF format.
This essay is an attempt at a serious, scholarly analysis of sex in Tolkien. It takes a more serious view than my factual yet light piece What Tolkien Officially Said About Elf Sex, and has a wider scope. There may be other essays extant on this, and I am aware that some of the topics I mention, such as Sam and Frodo, are often hotly debated by fans.
In 2003, this essay won the Best Critical Essay award in the Mithril Awards for Tolkien fan writing. In 2005, this essay was published in Issue #42 of Mallorn, the journal of the Tolkien Society. In the improbable event that you would like a print copy of this essay, you can order this issue of Mallorn through the Tolkien Society's web site.
This essay can be read translated into Italian here, and into German (PDF file) here. Thanks to the wonderful translators!
Warm Beds are Good discusses the following:
Tolkien: Old-Fashioned In His Day
Central Concepts of Sex in Tolkien's Writing
Libido as Reward in The Lord of the Rings
Sam and Frodo: Gay? Or Victorian?
The Censored Silmarillion
Laws and Customs Among the Eldar: Everything Under Control
The Great Tolkien Sex Story, Aldarion and Erendis
Modern Readers' Reactions: Updating the Myths
Where's the essay? Well, it's in .PDF format only, so....click here to read Warm Beds are Good: Sex and Libido in Tolkien's Writing.
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If you liked this you may also enjoy reading...
Some of my other essays, including another Mithril Award winner, The Unnatural History of Tolkien's Orcs
Starred recommendations for content by other writers:
Love, Intimacy, and Desire Among Hobbits – Most excellent essay by Cara Loup about hobbits.
Twenty-Two Words You Never Thought Tolkien Would Provide - From the Silmarillion Writers' Guild!