228 – Where Sméagols Swear

Gollum is disinclined to acquiesce to Frodo’s request to lead them to Mordor, and he tries to escape when he thinks the hobbits aren’t looking. Sam has thirty ells’ worth of good reasons for Gollum to stay put, but the Elvish rope burns his skin (as of publication, Lothlórien Ropeworks has not issued a recall, and neither Haldir nor “One of Those Folk” could be reached for comment). Finally, Sméagol comes up with a promise that Frodo can trust… for now. All this, plus a closer look at swearing (not that kind) and a Middle-earth/Marvel mashup in the mailbag.

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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. 601-605

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings (Mariner Books, paperback)

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings (Mariner Books, paperback)

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

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

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

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1 comment
  • Just a brief note: while I found your Middle Earth/MCU mashup entertaining, I was surprised that you compared the Falcon to Samwise without mentioning that the Falcon’s civilian identity is _Sam Wilson_… 🙂

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