A Brief History of Sauron
Sauron was causing problems in Middle Earth long before the events in the Lord of the Rings, going all the way back to the First Age. Here's the scoop. For more on Sauron and the destruction of Numenor, see my video on Numenor's history here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqDslbXjg70
20 Juni 202126min
Tolkien and Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics
Tolkien bucked a lot of trends in his day, and that extended even to his professional work. His influence is perhaps strongest with regard to the Old English poem Beowulf, and in this video I discuss some of his ideas as presented in a lecture (now available as an essay) titled "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics." You can find a copy of the essay here: https://www.amazon.com/Monsters-Critics-Essays-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/026110263X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508071811&sr=8-1&keywords=the+monsters+and+the+critics+and+other+essays You can also get Tolkien's own translation of the poem here: https://www.amazon.com/Beowulf-Translation-Commentary-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0544570308/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1508071762&sr=8-3&keywords=beowulf Also, a quick note on the video--I recorded it as usual but for some reason the clips came out truncated and so there's a bit missing at the transitions. Nothing critical left out, luckily, and hopefully I won't have this problem again!
20 Juni 202118min
The Biggest Problems with Peter Jackson's Hobbit Movie Trilogy
Peter Jackson admitted he didn't know what he was doing when he filmed The Hobbit trilogy, and it shows. Here are some of the key things I think the movies got wrong.
20 Juni 202118min
Background of the Writing of The Hobbit
The story of how The Hobbit came to be written and published is almost as interesting as The Hobbit itself. OK, maybe not, but it IS interesting, and serves as an interesting backdrop to a lot of discussions. For more on how the Hobbit was retconned to fit Tolkien's broader legendarium, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIbXfJ72j4c When I publish the video on why the Hobbit movies are terrible, I'll link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kORh99ZRuZ4 You can find Tolkien's Essay on Fairy Stories here: https://www.amazon.com/Tolkien-Fairy-Stories-Verlyn-Flieger/dp/0007582919/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506874225&sr=8-1&keywords=on+fairy+stories+tolkien And a video I did on his essay here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnMG5HhKK50
20 Juni 202113min
Lord of the Rings Character Study: Boromir
Boromir is one of the more obviously flawed characters in The Lord of the Rings, but the movie portrayal flattens out his character compared to the novel and even slightly turns him on his head.
20 Juni 202117min
The Wizards and the White Council in Lord of the Rings
The Wizards of Middle Earth are somewhat mysterious, and the White Council isn't discussed in much detail either. However, there is some good information outside of the main sources.
20 Juni 202116min
The Importance of the Old Forest, Bombadil, and Barrow Downs in The Lord of the Rings
I've done three videos on the Old Forest, Tom Bombadil, and the Barrow Downs. But why bother talking about chapters that don't move the plot forward in any significant way? Well.... Video on the Old Forest is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1ODkwQ-lnY Video on Tom Bombadil is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKfG0vP_INs Video on the Barrow Downs is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmY2ah1s2yo
20 Juni 20219min
Lord of the Rings "Deleted Scene": The Barrow Downs
Before watching this video, watch The Old Forest (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1ODkwQ-lnY) and Tom Bombadil (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKfG0vP_INs) for some context. You might also be interested in this video on the history of the North Kingdom of Arnor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t0zfrkinqc For the events before Frodo enters the Old Forest, check our this video: https://youtu.be/-jTXY8I5wAY
20 Juni 20219min
