0159 - Concerning Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"

Concerning Book 1 Chapter 1 of The Fellowship of the Ring, “A Long Expected Party”... On this episode of The Tolkien Road, we finally launch into Chapter 1 of The Fellowship of the Ring, "A Long Expected Party". Among other things, we discuss the themes of magic, legend, and locality as they play out in this chapter, as well as the indications that Bilbo’s Ring is more than just a curious artifact. Plus, we do the math on Bilbo's infamous compliment, and determine it was kind of a nice thing to say. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Please leave us a rating and feedback on iTunes. We’d love to know what you think of The Tolkien Road. Come get lost in Middle-earth and explore the history and background of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien Road is the podcast of the website TrueMyths.org. You can learn more by following @tolkienwisdom on Twitter and following TrueMyths.org on Facebook at Facebook.com/TrueMyths.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-tolkien-road--5222755/support.

12 Kesä 20151h 14min

On this episode of The Tolkien Road, we examine and discuss Tolkien’s influential essay On Fairy-Stories. While both Greta and I are hungry to start our read-through of The Lord of the Rings, I felt it was important to consider the ideas Tolkien lays out in On Fairy-Stories because of the role they play in The Lord of the Rings. After all, this is the place where he lays out the distinctively Tolkienian concepts of Recovery, Escape, Consolation, Subcreation, and Eucatastrophe. Similarly, he discusses his ideas of how story-telling and the story of Jesus Christ are related. It’s quite beautiful and insightful. I hope you enjoy our discussion.Come get lost in Middle-earth and explore the history and background of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien Road is the podcast of the website TrueMyths.org. You can learn more by following @tolkienwisdom on Twitter and following TrueMyths.org on Facebook at Facebook.com/TrueMyths.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-tolkien-road--5222755/support.

5 Kesä 20151h 18min

On this episode of Tolkien Road, we continue with The Lord of the Rings by discussing the Prologue, the section that begins with "Concerning Hobbits." We cover the origin and nature of hobbits, pipeweed, the structure of hobbit society, and Bilbo's little white lie regarding Gollum and the Ring. We also examine the fascinating narrative structure that Tolkien begins to apply in this section.Come get lost in Middle-earth and explore the history and background of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien Road is the podcast of the website TrueMyths.org. You can learn more by following @tolkienwisdom on Twitter and following TrueMyths.org on Facebook at Facebook.com/TrueMyths.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-tolkien-road--5222755/support.

29 Touko 20151h 10min

On this episode of Tolkien Road, we turn to The Lord of the Rings and begin our journey through the Third Age of Middle-earth with Tolkien's foreword to the Second Edition. This is an important section, because in it Tolkien discusses his reasons for writing the book. We’ll also discuss just what he means when he says that The Lord of the Rings is a “fundamentally religious and Catholic work."  Come get lost in Middle-earth and explore the history and background of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien Road is the podcast of the website TrueMyths.org. You can learn more by following @tolkienwisdom on Twitter and following TrueMyths.org on Facebook at Facebook.com/TrueMyths.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-tolkien-road--5222755/support.

22 Touko 20151h 1min

On this episode of Tolkien Road, John & Greta continue their chapter-by-chapter walkthrough of The Silmarillion with the second part of Chapter 9, "Of the Flight of the Noldor", wherein Fëanor leads the Noldor on a hell-bound quest to attack Morgoth and reclaim the Silmarils.  Come get lost in Middle-earth and explore the history and background of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien Road is the podcast of the website TrueMyths.org. You can learn more by following @tolkienwisdom on Twitter and following TrueMyths.org on Facebook at Facebook.com/TrueMyths.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-tolkien-road--5222755/support.

15 Touko 20151h

On this episode of Tolkien Road, John & Greta continue their chapter-by-chapter walkthrough of The Silmarillion with the first part of Chapter 9, "Of the Flight of the Noldor", wherein the Valar must determine what to do after the attack on the Two Trees. We also look at Melkor’s next steps, and what becomes of his partnership with Ungoliant. Come get lost in Middle-earth and explore the history and background of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien Road is the podcast of the website TrueMyths.org. You can learn more by following @tolkienwisdom on Twitter and following TrueMyths.org on Facebook at Facebook.com/TrueMyths.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-tolkien-road--5222755/support.

8 Touko 20151h 2min

Welcome to the 17th episode of The Tolkien Road podcast (formerly known as Talking Tolkien). On this episode, John & Greta continue their chapter-by-chapter walkthrough of The Silmarillion with Chapter 8, Of the Darkening of Valinor, wherein Melkor and the giant spider Ungoliant throw the Blessed Realm into overwhelming darkness. Sounds like a fun-packed family adventure, eh? Come get lost in Middle-earth and explore the history and background of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Talking Tolkien is the podcast of the website TrueMyths.org. You can learn more by following @tolkienwisdom on Twitter and following TrueMyths.org on Facebook at Facebook.com/TrueMyths.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-tolkien-road--5222755/support.

1 Touko 20151h 5min

Only 15 episodes in, and we finally find out what a Silmaril is and where they came from! On this episode, John & Greta continue their chapter-by-chapter walkthrough of The Silmarillion with Chapter 7, Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor. Things are starting to get ugly in the Blessed Realm! We discuss topics ranging from the origin of the Silmarils to Melkor's schemes to the desire for light in Middle-earth (and what exactly that's all about). Also, Greta completely outdoes John with her Tolkien haiku, proving that, like Bilbo to Gandalf, "When I left you I was but the learner; now I am the master." That was from The Hobbit, right? Come get lost in Middle-earth and explore the history and background of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Talking Tolkien is the podcast of the website TrueMyths.org. You can learn more by following @tolkienwisdom on Twitter and following TrueMyths.org on Facebook at Facebook.com/TrueMyths.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-tolkien-road--5222755/support.

17 Huhti 20151h 7min