The Moral Dilemma That Broke Frieren

the most controversial video I have ever made.

REFERENCES

15:06 | Morgoth's likeness taken from the concept art for Rings of Power

Keller, Nick. "The Rings of Power - Prologue Concept Art." ArtStation, 2023. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/04mk6w

15:16 | Morgoth being based on Satan

Tolkien, J.R.R. Carpenter, Humphrey (editor). Tolkien, Christopher (assistance). "The Letters of J.R.R Tolkien." Mariner Books, 2006, "183 Notes on W. H. Auden's review of The Return of the King."

15:49 | The Balrogs being corrupted angels

Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher (editor). "The Silmarillion." Harper Collins, 1999, p. 42.

15:53 | Sauron (and everything else) not being evil in the beginning

Tolkien, J.R.R. "The Lord of the Rings." Harper Collins, 2005, p. 267.

16:06 | Evil cannot make, only mock

Tolkien, J.R.R. "The Lord of the Rings." Harper Collins, 2005, p. 914.

16:50 | Orc-mischief, as described by Treebeard

Tolkien, J.R.R. "The Lord of the Rings." Harper Collins, 2005, p. 474.

16:57 | Orcs hate elves, and so calling something an "Elvish trick" suggests they think lowly of it. So therefore they must think leaving an ally behind is lowly. Thus they must have a sense of morality

Tolkien, J.R.R. "The Lord of the Rings." Harper Collins, 2005, p. 740

18:07 | Tolkien writing about his trouble with the orc's origins

Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher (editor). "Morgoth's Ring." Houghton Mifflin, 1993. "Myths Transformed VII."

18:18 | Wiki article listing some of the various origins Tolkien gave for the orcs

"Orcs/Origin" Tolkien Gateway, Accessed Nov 10, 2024. https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Orcs/Origin

18:26 | Origin of the orcs suggesting they're corrupted elves

Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher (editor). "The Silmarillion." Harper Collins, 1999, p. 65.

18:35 | Origin of the orcs suggesting they're created from earth by Morgoth

J.R.R Tolkien (edited by Christopher Tolkien), The Book of Lost Tales Part 2, The Fall of Gondolin

19:07 | Tolkien's seemingly final thoughts on the origin of the orcs, suggesting they're corrupted and deserving of mercy

Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher (editor). "Morgoth's Ring." Houghton Mifflin, 1993. "Myths Transformed X."

21:21 | Orcs being described as corrupted rational beings, not unlike many men to be met today

Tolkien, J.R.R. Carpenter, Humphrey (editor). Tolkien, Christopher (assistance). "The Letters of J.R.R Tolkien." Mariner Books, 2006, "153 To Peter Hastings (draft)."

21:29 | Fawcett on the orcs, in a paper analyzing the morality of Tolkien's various monsters

Fawcett, Christina. "J.R.R. Tolkien and the morality of monstrosity." University of Glasgow, 2014, p. 125. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/4993/

28:35 | Wiki article explaining more about biological determinism

"Biological determinism." Wikipedia, Accessed Nov 14, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_determinism

43:19 | Tumblr post where I got the example of Watson's war wound for Watsonian vs Doylist

bemusedlybespectacled. "hey folks, I’m gonna introduce you to two very important fandom terms and they are watsonian and doylist." Tumblr, Dec 16, 2021. https://bemusedlybespectacled.tumblr.com/post/670763180426952705/bemusedlybespectacled-hey-folks-im-gonna

43:56 | The word orcs actually come from the Anglo-Saxon/Old English word demon

Tolkien, J.R.R. Carpenter, Humphrey (editor). Tolkien, Christopher (assistance). "The Letters of J.R.R Tolkien." Mariner Books, 2006, "144 To Naomi Mitchison."

49:31 | Tolkien's letter to Hastings, explaining his ideas of the orcs and the theology of his world

Tolkien, J.R.R. Carpenter, Humphrey (editor). Tolkien, Christopher (assistance). "The Letters of J.R.R Tolkien." Mariner Books, 2006, "153 To Peter Hastings (draft)."

I'm too lazy to cite all of the manga panels I showed in the video, and I'm not linking to any of the tweets because I don't want anyone to harass the people I mentioned

The Moral Dilemma That Broke Frieren

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REFERENCES

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