Years have passed since the farewell party, and as the first part of Book I, Chapter 2, “The Shadow of the Past” unfolds, Frodo has come into his own as the new resident oddball at Bag End. But rumor begins to reach the Shire about a growing shadow in the East, and soon Gandalf returns (after not quite seventeen years) with foreboding news about Bilbo’s magic ring. Tolkien meets Jane Austen in an eye-opening mailbag submission, and a brief but most excellent appearance is made by Messrs. Preston and Logan of San Dimas.
To read the full analysis about Bilbo’s wealth from listener and patron Ed Powell, click here. Follow Ed on Twitter at @DrEdPowell.
H/T to listener Tom Hillman for his observations about the connotations of the Old English word searu at the root of Saruman’s name. For the original essay “Etymology is Destiny, Saruman, Saruman,” visit his blog here: http://alasnotme.blogspot.com/2018/01/etymology-is-destiny-saruman-saruman.html
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Recommended Reading:
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit (Mariner Books, paperback)
Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) The Silmarillion (Mariner Books, paperback)
Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (Mariner Books, paperback)
