That’s what Vizzini told us to do, so we have. As we shake off the jet lag and learn to live again without full English breakfasts and a steady supply of fish and chips, we look back at Book I of The Lord of the Rings, revisiting the recurring themes in the story so far. Then we look ahead to Book II, and the new themes and tone that will emerge as Frodo continues on the ever-darkening road to Mordor. We shake the dust off Barliman’s Bag with a few questions from our summer hiatus, finally put Tolkien 2019 behind us with a brief discussion of our favorite moments, and explore the answer to the burning question: Who’s more goth than Morgoth?
The award-winning site TolkienGuide.com has collected all of the available videos from Tolkien 2019 on this page. (H/T to moderator Trotter and site admin Urulókë, whom we interviewed in one of those videos!)
The Prancing Pony Podcast video interviews from Tolkien 2019 can also be found on our YouTube channel. Videos of many of the panels and presentations can also be found on The Tolkien Society YouTube channel.
Recommended Reading:
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit (Mariner Books, paperback)
Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) The Silmarillion (Mariner Books, paperback)
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays (HarperCollins, paperback)
Tolkien, J. R. R. Tree and Leaf: Including “Mythopoeia” (HarperCollins, paperback)
Carpenter, Humphrey. J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography (Houghton Mifflin, paperback)
Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (Mariner Books, paperback)
Edwards, Raymond. Tolkien (Robert Hale, hardcover)
Garth, John. Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth (Mariner Books, hardcover)
Shippey, Tom. J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century (Mariner Books, paperback)
Tales from the Perilous Realm: A Four BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation (BBC Books, unabridged)
Glad you guys enjoyed Birmingham and I wish I could have got down there to join you all. By the way, it’s surprising to hear visitors extolling English food! My local chippy cooks the fish in a batter made with beer – delicious!
I’m really looking forward to your Book Two discussions. I was thinking about your list of reading references for the new season and wondered why no Verlyn Flieger? I’ve just started reading A Question of Time, and I think it could provide some valuable additional insight, especially when we reach Lothlorien.
It was simply a matter of too many sources to remember them all, Helen. 🙁 But don’t take our oversight as a sign that we won’t be referencing Verlyn Flieger’s work! We already worked in a relevant quote from Splintered Light into our discussion on Chapter 1. I’ve got a couple of passages from one of her essays in Green Suns and Faërie marked for the Council of Elrond, and I’ve bookmarked exactly the passage you’re thinking of (I suspect) on Lothlórien from A Question of Time. You’ll be hearing a lot from her books as the season goes on.
Hey, heard the mention of a storefront – is the link up for that yet? If so, I can’t find it. Help!
Hi Adam — I’m sorry, we had every intention of getting the storefront up by now, but it’s been delayed as we’ve been swamped getting the new season underway! Please stay tuned and we will get that up ASAP, and there will definitely be a link in the menu up top.
Thanks!
Shawn
Thanks for answering my question on the Witch Kong’s blade! I knew that would be a poser and I appreciate your answers.
Thanks for the question, Casey! It’s always fun to dive into a poser of a question like that.