# Way of Arda's Lore: A Twenty-Year Journey

## From Tië eldaliéva to the Future of Mythic Scholarship

*A Commemorative History for the 20th Anniversary*

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## Origins: The Search for Mythic Truth (1980s-2005)

The roots of Way of Arda’s Lore lie not in the cinematic spectacle of Peter Jackson’s films, but in a much older and deeper quest. Dave Woosley, the organization's founder, had been engaged since the mid-1980s in what might be called a "mythic archaeology" — searching for others who viewed Tolkien's Legendarium not primarily as fiction, but rather as mytho-history.¹

This was no casual interest. Dave, having been captivated by Tolkien's works since age eight, recognized something in the Professor's subcreation that transcended mere literature. As a visual thinker on the autism spectrum, Dave was particularly drawn to Tolkien's ability to "paint pictures in my mind" — the landscapes and cosmic architecture rather than the lives of humanoid characters who were, in his words, "just part of the furniture."

The search for like-minded individuals proved challenging through the 1980s and 1990s. The internet was young, and communities centered around viewing Middle-earth as a genuine mythic environment were rare. Most existing Tolkien groups treated the works as elaborate fantasy rather than as meaningful mythology that could inform spiritual and cultural understanding.

The turning point came around 2004, when Dave encountered an audio lecture by Bishop Stephen Hoeller of [gnosis.org](http://gnosis.org/) entitled *[J.R.R. Tolkien’s Gnosis for our Day](https://westofwest.org/audio/lectures/hoeller-tolkien.mp3)*. {MP3} [[transcript](https://westofwest.org/docs/jrr_tolkiens_gnosis_for_our_day.pdf)] This lecture made a profound impression and provided the impetus for what Dave later described as searching for like-minded people "one final time" during what was a particularly chaotic period in his life. Significantly, this was not an attempt to "catch the wave" of popularity surrounding Peter Jackson's films — Dave was only peripherally aware of them and didn't care for the one he eventually saw. Rather, it emerged from "a strong urge to bring something *True* into a world that had mostly forgotten that such qualities even existed."

## The Founding of Tië eldaliéva (2005)

On February 2005, Dave created the Yahoo group UTolk as a final attempt to find people who shared his perspective on Tolkien's work. In May of that year, he met Lisa Allen (Calantirniel), who would become his co-founder. Their meeting was serendipitous — two serious seekers who recognized in each other a shared understanding that Tolkien's Legendarium contained something more than entertainment.

On August 23, 2005, they jointly founded Tië eldaliéva (Path of the Star People), marking the true beginning of what would become a twenty-year journey of exploration and community building.

## Early Development and Community Growth (2005-2007)

The early days of Tië eldaliéva revealed both the hunger for and the challenges of building a community around mythic interpretation of Tolkien's work. The group initially attracted a diverse array of seekers, including many 'Otherkin' who seemed to compete over their various supernatural identities ("I'm half Wood-elf, half Vampyre, half daemon, half High-elf, half..."). This posed some confusion for Dave, who had never been attracted to elves as an archetype or any of Tolkien's hominans — his interest was in the cosmic and landscape elements of the legendarium.

Another significant difference emerged in approach. Many newcomers wanted to use Tolkien's mythos as a minor element in various forms of neo-Paganism that seemed to shift weekly. Dave, being fundamentally observationally and scientifically-based, insisted that anything worth studying "must be considered for its own sake," and that any remarkable insights must arise "on that thing's own merits." This principle would become foundational: *the signal must arise from the data.*

During this period, Dave began developing his skills in shamanism, particularly entheogenic shamanism, eventually finding his Plant Ally after several challenging attempts. This personal spiritual development merged with his scientific research methodology, creating a unique approach to evaluating what was or was not compatible with the Legendarium's central ideas.

The community worked intensively on developing observances and rituals, with Lisa's contributions proving invaluable in this area. Dave also began using a targeted phrase-search program called Recoll to systematically mine the entire Legendarium corpus, an approach that would later influence his development of quantitative methods for analyzing mythic content.

After approximately six to eight months of development, they established a forum and began presenting their creations to the wider world. The response indicated genuine interest in their work.

## The Great Division (2007)

By late 2007, despite continued refinements and discoveries, fundamental differences in vision had emerged. Dave never fully adapted to the intense "elven identification" of many members, something he simply didn't share. Moreover, significant life changes — his marriage and the impending arrival of his first child — brought about what he described as "a certain alteration in worldview all its own."

Lisa and Dave decided to form two separate but allied organizations. Lisa retained the structure and name of Tië eldaliéva, maintaining its focus on Elven spirituality and community. Dave formed Ilsaluntë Valion (The Silver Ship of the Valar) with a more Valarin, gnostic,² and shamanic focus.

This division was not acrimonious but rather represented a natural evolution allowing each approach to develop according to its own internal logic and community needs.

## The Wilderness Years and Renewed Collaboration (2008-2020)

The years following Peter Jackson's film trilogy brought natural attrition as mainstream interest in Middle-earth waned. Both groups weathered these fluctuations, with Tië eldaliéva consistently maintaining larger membership numbers due to Lisa's more active outreach efforts.

A significant milestone came in 2014, when Dr. Markus Davidsen, then completing his doctoral dissertation at Leiden University, began studying both organizations as part of his groundbreaking research into "fiction-based religion." His thesis, "The Spiritual Tolkien Milieu: A Study of Fiction-based Religion," would become the first major academic treatment of communities that treat Tolkien's Legendarium as genuine spiritual and mythic material rather than mere fantasy literature. Davidsen's work provided crucial external validation that what Dave and Lisa had pioneered represented a genuinely new phenomenon in contemporary religious studies.

During this period, Dave's Ilsaluntë Valion continued refining its analytical approach, developing increasingly sophisticated methods for mythic pattern recognition. Lisa expanded Tië eldaliéva's liturgical and communal practices.

A crucial institutional development came as Tië eldaliéva began pursuing formal recognition as a spiritual non-profit. Dakyndre Helgesson, who had joined the community and would become a central figure in its evolution, emerged as the largest monetary contributor toward this goal. Through his efforts, funds were collected by autumn 2019, and the organization received its IRS EIN number by May 1, 2020, achieving official non-profit status.

Then, in 2020, circumstances brought the founders back together. Lisa invited Dave back as a technical advisor when a YouTube influencer sparked sudden interest — and equally sudden complications. The influencer's desire to blend non-Tolkien elements into the lore proved incompatible with their commitment to textual authenticity. Though that collaboration dissolved, Dave and Lisa had relearned how to work together effectively.

By mid-2020, Lisa began producing Tië eldaliéva videos herself — seeding the multimedia presence that would define the organization's next phase.

## The Great Transformation: Becoming Way of Arda's Lore (June 2024)

In June 2024, after nearly twenty years as Tië eldaliéva, the organization underwent its most significant transformation, becoming Way of Arda's Lore (WAL). This change represented not merely a rebranding but a fundamental evolution in scope and purpose.

The impetus for this transformation arose from several converging factors. Some patrons had expressed concerns that the organization was moving away from honoring Tolkien's elves, but this misunderstood the deeper issue at hand. The real challenge was that the name "Tië eldaliéva" (Path of the Star People) had become misleading in the modern context.

Over the decades since 2005, the meaning of "Elven" had evolved significantly. What once clearly denoted Tolkien's specific conception of elves had become diluted to encompass numerous archetypes: anime elves, World of Warcraft blood elves, otherkin elves, and various other fantasy interpretations. The organization found itself constantly having to clarify that they were specifically focused on Tolkien's legendarium, not these other manifestations.

As Dave explained in the announcement video, his own entry point to Tolkien's work illustrates why the change was necessary. His attraction was never to elves as characters, but rather to Tolkien's ability to "paint pictures in my mind" of the natural world — stars, streams, trees, and landscapes. For him, the elves were simply "part of the furniture," while his true connection was to the cosmic and environmental elements of the subcreation. The restrictive focus on Elven spirituality was inadvertently excluding people who might resonate deeply with other aspects of Tolkien's world.

During the rebranding process, Lisa initially proposed "The Way of Tolkien's Lore," which would have maintained direct connection to the Professor's name. However, recognizing that this might generate controversy or legal complications, the leadership team sought alternatives. It was Dakyndre Helgesson who suggested "Way of Arda's Lore" — a solution that proved far more elegant and comprehensive. "Arda," meaning Earth in Tolkien's cosmology, encompassed the entirety of his subcreated world rather than privileging one people above others. "Lore" emphasized their commitment to the actual content of Tolkien's legendarium rather than modern reinterpretations or additions from other fantasy sources.

This rebranding allowed the organization to "tighten their brand" in a crucial way: they could now clearly state that they were exclusively focused on Tolkien's own writings and explicitly exclude non-Tolkien material. As Lisa noted in the video, they were "totally okay" with comparative study that referenced Norse paganism, Celtic folklore, or other mythological traditions — provided such study always returned to and was grounded in Tolkien's material. What they would no longer accommodate were attempts to incorporate anime elves, gaming archetypes, or purely invented otherkin variations that had no basis in the legendarium.

The transformation also enabled a more inclusive structure. Rather than losing the Elven focus, Tië eldaliéva would continue as one "house" within the larger WAL framework, similar to the twelve houses of Gondolin mentioned in Tolkien's early writings. This allowed for specialized alignments — Elven, Dwarven, Human, or even connections to the Valar themselves — while maintaining the scholarly rigor that demanded all such alignments be grounded in Tolkien's actual texts.

The timing of this change coincided with other organizational developments, including the implementation of their clergy training program and a comprehensive revision of their bylaws to make them "cult-proof" and prevent future manipulation by individuals with personal agendas. This period also saw significant changes in leadership structure. Following the departure of previous board members (one voluntary, another removal), Dakyndre Helgesson joined the board in 2021, eventually becoming President by 2023. His contributions to the organization extended far beyond financial support, providing crucial leadership during a period of institutional maturation.

## The Current Era and Future Vision (2024-Present)

Today's Way of Arda's Lore embodies the maturation of two decades of exploration and community building. The organization has evolved from its initial focus on Elven spirituality to encompass a broader mission of engaging with Tolkien's entire subcreated world as a source of genuine wisdom and insight.

The current WAL represents a synthesis of the paths explored by both original founders — combining Lisa's gift for community building and outreach with methodologies that have emerged from years of serious scholarship and spiritual exploration. The organization's video content, community forums, and ongoing projects demonstrate a commitment to treating Tolkien's work with the depth and respect it deserves while making it accessible to new generations of seekers.

The organization's academic significance received formal recognition through Dr. Markus Davidsen's decade-long study, which culminated in his 2014 doctoral thesis: "The Spiritual Tolkien Milieu: A Study of Fiction-based Religion." Davidsen's groundbreaking research provided the first comprehensive academic framework for understanding "fiction-based religion" — communities where fictional texts serve as primary spiritual authorities. His work documented how WAL and similar organizations represent a genuinely new phenomenon in contemporary religious studies, challenging traditional distinctions between "fact" and "fiction" in spiritual practice.

In 2024, Dr. Davidsen returned to update his research, documenting the organization's evolution over the intervening decade. This follow-up study captures WAL's transformation from experimental spiritual community to established institution, its navigation of legal and organizational challenges, and its pioneering role in what has become a recognized field of academic inquiry. WAL now stands as possibly the first registered nonprofit organization explicitly dedicated to Tolkien-based spirituality, making it a unique subject for religious studies scholarship.

## The Mythic First Connection

As Way of Arda's Lore celebrates its twentieth anniversary, it does so in the context of broader developments in the field of mythic studies. Dave Woosley's recent work with his new Research and Development organization Mythic First represents the cutting edge of applying quantitative methods to mythic analysis, developing tools like the Mythic Signal Scalar (𝕊ᵣ) that can mathematically distinguish authentic mythic content from derivative or parodic material.

This work, conducted in collaboration with advanced AI systems, demonstrates how traditional mythic wisdom can be enhanced rather than replaced by modern analytical tools. The Mythic First approach validates Tolkien's own vision of his legendarium as something that could be extended by "other minds and hands," provided they maintain the essential quality and integrity that makes mythic material meaningful.

The relationship between WAL and Mythic First illustrates how the spiritual community that began twenty years ago has evolved to encompass both the experiential and analytical dimensions of mythic engagement. Where WAL nurtures the community and spiritual aspects of Tolkien's vision, Mythic First develops the methodological tools necessary to distinguish authentic mythic creation from mere fantasy entertainment.

## Legacy and Future

As Way of Arda's Lore enters its third decade, it stands as a testament to the enduring power of Tolkien's vision and the dedication of those who recognized that his work offered more than entertainment. From the early days of UTolk through the development of Tië eldaliéva and Ilsaluntë Valion, to the current synthesis as WAL, the organization has maintained its core commitment to treating the Legendarium as a source of genuine wisdom.

The organization's evolution mirrors the broader maturation of Tolkien studies from academic curiosity to recognition of the Professor's work as legitimate mythology worthy of serious spiritual and scholarly engagement. In an age where much modern fantasy has descended into derivative formulae and commercial exploitation, WAL stands as a guardian of the authentic mythic tradition that Tolkien pioneered.

Looking forward, Way of Arda's Lore continues to explore new ways of engaging with Middle-earth while maintaining the essential principle that guided its founding: the signal must arise from the data. Whether through community spiritual practice, scholarly analysis, or innovative applications of technology to mythic studies, WAL remains committed to the vision of bringing something True into a world that needs such truth more than ever.

The twenty-year journey from a small Yahoo group to a mature organization capable of influencing the broader field of mythic studies demonstrates that persistent dedication to authentic vision can indeed create lasting change. As Tolkien himself might have said, the light of Eärendil continues to shine in the darkness, carried forward by those who recognize its value and commit themselves to its preservation and growth.

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## Footnotes:

¹ The concept of mytho-history treats mythological narratives not as fictional constructs but as meaningful accounts of archetypal events that transcend conventional historical categories while remaining instructive for understanding human experience and cosmic order.

² In the original Greek sense of *gnosis* meaning wisdom and knowledge, with no essential link to capital-G Gnosticism, although some Gnostic documents proved interesting to certain individuals in specific contexts.