Poll: Fan Perceptions of Maglor

[dawn_felagund]

ETA:: Please note: As of 10 May 2009, I have collected the results for this poll. You're welcome to still contribute, if you wish, as I may return to this topic in the future, but further replies will not be used in my current essay. However, do check out the discussion on this post, which is as fabulous as I have come to expect from my flist and passersby! :) A sincere thank-you to all who participated in the poll and provided such insightful discussion of the topic. /ETA

I am getting ready to write an essay for my weble The Heretic Loremaster, and I am interested in how Tolkien fans familiar with The Silmarillion perceive the character of Maglor. I appreciate the input of anyone who has a few minutes to spare me and my LJ-created poll. :) Also, please pass the word to other Tolkienites, if you're so inclined. I would like as many responses as I can get.

If you do not have an LJ account and would like to contribute to the poll, feel free to leave an anonymous comment with your responses. (Click "Confabulate with Me" at the bottom of the post.)

Please note also that I do not expect people to look up information for this. I am interested in your perceptions of his character, not how well you can find what the book says about his character. (And, for those who do not already know, I don't believe in "canon," so I don't believe that there are right or wrong answers to any of these questions, although I certainly possess my own opinions on them. :)



[Poll #1387001]

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Anything that you'd wish to add or elaborate upon, please feel free to do so in the comments. :)

Comments

[dawn_felagund]

It was beautiful, actually! :) And, fwiw, I totally agree with you on Maglor as the warrior. To me, it is hard to deny his strength and courage, given his choice of the most dangerous realm in Beleriand, his actions at the Nirnaeth, and the decision that he made about Maedhros's fate. I'm trying not to give away the request that Arandil made that prompted this poll ... but what the heck; it's publicly available for anyone who wants to comb The Heretic Loremaster, and there's enough comments by now that it will be well-buried. Arandil asked me to debunk the fanon notion that Maglor was a wimp, so here I am. :) To each her own, but I find that the defaulting of Maglor to the role of the wimp tends to be a rather shallow interpretation, like he was gazing at the clouds and writing poems while his brothers practiced at their swords. And I don't think that the "canon" supports this idea at all, either.

Maglor was a muse that was a long time coming to me, and I think that had a lot to do with the fact that he was so yucky-nice in fanon and most fanfic that I was reading at the time. But when he arrived ... his became one of my favorite PoVs to write, which I found surprising.

[mirien.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Eugh, yes, the yucky nice makes my bood boil and my teeth grit. I stop reading any fic where Maglor is written as dreamy/less a warrior because he's a musician/too nice because for me, they insult the complexity of his nature and character.

Actually, you know what? The thought of Maglor as fanon wimp makes me more than angry, it makes me absolutely bloody seethe. For me, it shows a total inability to appreciate the depths of this incredible Elf in a book which is all about subtlety. To misinterpret Maglor is to miss the point of the whole of the Silm, I think.

I could go on, but I won't, or my Maglor muse will make a break for the daylight once more! There are so many stories I have in my head unwritten!

I'm very much looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

[dawn_felagund]

Oh, I understand ... I have that reaction to the narrow writing of the Feanorians in general, even though I know that it's just a story and not worth getting riled up about. ;) But it does seem as you say, that it misses the whole point of the story. I think that the Silm is brilliant because of the complexity of character; it is why I never tire of writing about it.

I will stop now lest I reawaken your napping Maglor. ;)

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I have a complete sympathy with your passion on the subject! I get really riled over wimp Maglor also! I won't repeat your arguments, but I think I agreed with every single one of them.

[rhapsody11.livejournal.com]

I really don't have much to add what you said about Maglor, so utterly thirded. (Medieval) Bards had to survive and could be found anywhere and needed to have a bucketloads of skills to get that far. I never could write Maglor as a wimp, so he ends up as a warrior bard in my verse and does things that folks might cry AU about. :)