151 – Misty Mountain Hop

The Fellowship is forced to leave Hollin early when “no sign of life nearby” turns into “giant evil crows filling the sky”. Certain they are being watched, they get moving as soon as possible and make for the Misty Mountains, but Gandalf and Aragorn bicker like an old married couple about the best way to get across — if you’re more familiar with the movies, Gandalf’s choice may surprise you. Barliman brings us a welcome follow-up on a listener’s question about the friend who dismissed Tolkien as “nerdy”, and we seriously try to make “brupper” a thing, because the alternative is far worse.

In memory of Christopher Tolkien, 1924 – 2020.

Listen to the episode here, on YouTube, or in the player below:

Subscribe to the podcast via:

Comments or questions for Barliman’s Bag:

  • Visit us at Facebook or Twitter
  • Join our subreddit
  • Comment on this blog post
  • Click the green button at right
  • Email barliman (at) theprancingponypodcast (dot) com

Recommended Reading:

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings (Mariner Books, paperback) pp. 276-81, “The Ring Goes South”

Hammond, Wayne G. and Christina Scull. The Lord of the Rings: A Reader’s Companion (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, hardcover)

Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) The Silmarillion (Mariner Books, paperback)

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit (Mariner Books, paperback)

Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth (Mariner Books, paperback)

Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (Mariner Books, paperback)

Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) The Treason of Isengard (The History of Middle-earth, Vol. 7) (Houghton Mifflin, paperback)

Shippey, Tom. J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century (Mariner Books, paperback)

Flieger, Verlyn. Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien’s World (Kent State University Press, paperback)

Garth, John. Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth (Mariner Books, hardcover)

Join the discussion

More from this show

Recent posts

Podcast Episodes
The Prancing Pony Podcast