One of the best things that can be said about the books written by J.R.R. Tolkien is that they have thrilled millions of readers and brought many strangers together to warmly discuss the author’s vision and passion. Whole conferences have been organized around the books of this one man and the movies (and radio plays) they inspired. But there is a darker side to Tolkien scholarship, one that is unfortunately played out every day on the Web.
As happens in so many fields of endeavor, there are disagreements within the Tolkien fan community over various details of the Tolkien books. To most fans it’s just fun to argue and debate without making the disagreements into personal feuds and vendettas. But some people, perhaps envious of the recognition accorded to the best researchers in the field, take things too far and launch poison pen campaigns against more well-known names. A recent example of this kind of charade scholarship is to be found in false and unjustified remarks made by two people under the screen names of Halfir and Elenhir against Michael Martinez, who is widely acknowledged as one of the leading researchers in the field of Tolkien Studies.
Martinez used to write a weekly column for Suite101. At the height of his popularity he had an estimated 30,000 online readers (Circa 2001) and his work was cited in newspapers and journals around the world. Weighing in on the controversial topic about Balrog wings, Martinez wrote an essay that explained the truth about Balrogs as being no more than a simple misunderstanding. In fact, the majority of readers who respond to online surveys claim the Balrog in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings has some sort of wings.
But a few hard core dissidents like Halfir and Elenhir disagree. Misusing Tolkien sources to distort the facts, Elenhir recently published an essay trying to prove that Balrogs did not have wings. Instead of relying on solid scholarship Elenhir chose to shore up his position by launching personal attacks on Martinez. Martinez’ own final word on the subject, written several years ago, uses numerous citations to show the Balrogs wings debate is founded upon many misunderstandings.
Some people might argue there is little wisdom in taking on an issue that has essentially been settled, much less in taking on someone who is widely esteemed for the depth and thoroughness of his research. Perhaps Elenhir and his ally Gransby (Halfir) believe that if they make enough personal attacks they’ll deceive people into thinking Martinez has no credibility, but the truth is that they could only hope to fool a very small number of people. Thousands of Tolkien Web sites routinely use Martinez as an authoritative source of information. There is no greater testament to the quality of research than the unbiased judgement of the masses.