Utúlie’n aurë! Thank you for visiting this survey about race and fan art in the Tolkien fandom. The purpose of this project is to gain a fuller understanding of racial diversity in Tolkien fanart.

CRITERIA FOR TAKING THIS SURVEY:

Tolkien fans who:
+ are over 18 years of age
+ regularly see and interact with fan art through liking, commenting, and/or reblogging
+ are located anywhere in the world
+ Bonus: create Tolkien-inspired fan art!

are welcome to take this survey! However, our main interest is Fingon the Valiant from The Silmarillion, particularly when portrayed as a Black elf in fan art. We are especially hoping to hear from Tolkien fan artists who depict this Fingon.

~ NOTE #1: For the purposes of this survey, we are defining "fan art" very broadly, to include traditional art and digital art [2D or 3D] as well as fanvids, gifs or gifsets, manips, edits, fancasts, etc.
~ NOTE #2: We use “Black Fingon” as shorthand for any artistic depictions of this character having skin tone, hair texture, and/or facial structure associated with social markers of Blackness in contemporary society. We also consider racial diversity in terms of contemporary societal constructions, more than in regard to Middle-earth races such as Elves and Dwarves.

WHAT TO EXPECT:
If you choose to participate, you will be asked approximately 15 questions about Tolkien fan art, where you see/engage with it, and how you think about it.

This survey will include both multiple-choice and open/fill-in-the-blank questions. Most questions, including demographics, are optional. You can answer open questions in as much or as little detail as you want. The survey should take about 20 minutes to complete, depending on how many open questions you want to answer and how much detail you choose to provide. You can also leave the survey without completing it at any time.

RISKS OR DISCOMFORTS:  
This survey is anonymized by design, as the researchers have seen that fans' or scholars' thoughtful discussions and criticisms regarding race in Tolkien's work can lead to harassment. With its particular design, though, the risks of this survey are minimal. You may feel upset thinking about, or writing down information related to, personal experience past or present; however, we believe that this is similar to what you might experience when discussing the same personal experiences with others. You are also free to skip any of the open-answer questions that you feel uncomfortable answering.
 
CONFIDENTIALITY AND YOUR DATA:
Your responses are completely confidential, and no identifying information (IP address, legal name, email or address, etc.) is being collected. The optional information that is collected, if any, cannot be used to identify you.

This survey has been reviewed by the University of Utah Institutional Board (IRB).

ABOUT THE RESEARCHERS:
This survey is being conducted by two Tolkien scholars and fans, Megan B. Abrahamson and Maria K. Alberto, as part of their work on a chapter on Tolkien fan art, forthcoming in _Race, Racisms, and Racists: Essays on J. R. R. Tolkien's Legendarium, Adaptations, and Readers_, edited by Robin Anne Reid. Thus, survey findings and answers may be published (in aggregate or specifically) in this chapter and future work.

You can visit us on Tumblr at https://racebenttolkienfanartsurvey.tumblr.com/. Also, if you have any questions about this survey or our work, you can message us there or write to us at racebentfanartsurvey@gmail.com!