We begin the new year with a Tolkien Fun Fact in honor of the Professor’s birthday before starting on Book I, Chapter 4 of The Lord of the Rings, “A Short Cut to Mushrooms.” Frodo, Sam, and Pippin wake up after the Elf-party refreshed and encouraged, and soon fall into a false sense of security… but a piercing cry on the wind reminds them that danger is still very near. We discuss the Ringwraiths in an extended sidebar, and go back to all our old wells of pop culture referentiality. Admit it: you totally expected the Spanish Inquisition.
Recommended Reading:
Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (Mariner Books, paperback)
Carpenter, Humphrey. J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography (Houghton Mifflin, paperback)
Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) The Silmarillion (Mariner Books, paperback)
Hotel Continental Breakfast “Maple” syrup are to maple syrup as orcs are elves: a corrupted imitation; a shadow of beauty forged in mockery of a beauty that evil could never create.
Agreed. This it may be was the vilest deed of Melkor.