We finally begin our readthrough of Book IV of The Lord of the Rings with “The Taming of Sméagol”! All alone after fleeing Parth Galen, Frodo and Sam are lost among the barren slopes of the Emyn Muil, seeking a way down to the stinking bog below (zero stars for this hiking tour). But how alone are they, really? Are the two eyes following them attached to the head they think, and will Sam be able to get a tight enough grip on the neck below it to, uh, “handle the situation”? All this, plus a new segment welcoming our youngest listeners: Questions Before Bedtime.
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Recommended Reading:
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings (Mariner Books, paperback) “The Taming of Sméagol”, pp. 589-93
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)
Garth, John. Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth (Mariner Books, hardcover)
Fonstad, Karen Wynn. The Atlas of Middle-earth (Revised Edition) (Houghton Mifflin, Paperback)
Just thought I’d share that at 25:33, when you mention Gandalf coming back to help show Frodo & Sam the way into Mordor, I got visions of a sparkly, shiny, Gandalf in the sky, just like the Holy Grail from Monty Python. Thanks for the chuckle on the drive to work this morning! 🙂