241 – There Are Some Who Call Me… Tharkûn

Frodo learns the identity of the wandering wizard Faramir calls the Grey Pilgrim, and it’s exactly who he thinks (which is to say it’s not John Cleese in horned headgear). But that just means there’s more bad news to share, this time the news of Gandalf’s fall in Moria. As Faramir learns more, he gets closer to the dark secret carried by the halfling… but will Frodo be able to trust him with the full truth, or is the memory of Boromir’s betrayal still too near? All this, plus more blindfolds for Frodo and Sam, and an interview with composer and guitarist Dave Brons.

To learn more about Dave Brons’ Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost and the upcoming album Return to Arda, visit davebrons.com. Find his music at davebrons.bandcamp.com, and follow Dave Brons Music on Facebook

Recommended Reading:

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings (Mariner Books, paperback) “The Window on the West”, pp. 655-59

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)

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

Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) The Lays of Beleriand (The History of Middle-earth, Vol. 3) (Del Rey, paperback)

Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) The War of the Ring (The History of Middle-earth, Vol. 8) (Houghton Mifflin, paperback)

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

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

Judd, Walter S., and Graham A. Judd. Flora of Middle-Earth: Plants of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Legendarium (Oxford University Press, hardcover)

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8 comments
  • Once more, wonderfully demonstrating that here at the Prancing Pony Podcast you are reading and talking your way through Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a few sketches at a time, with occasional references to Tolkien’s legendarium. 😄

  • Peter Jackson & Co.’s movies do a generally wonderful retelling of The Lord of the Rings, and there are even a number of things that I feel they do better than the book. For example, the breaking of the Fellowship on Amon Hen is more satisfying to my mind, especially in giving Aragorn a chance to resist the temptation of the Ring. I know that Tolkien had to relegate the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen to an appendix because he couldn’t tell the story in the book in a way that satisfied him; Arwen’s part in the movie works very well for me. But the major failure of the movies to my mind is Faramir’s treatment of Frodo and Sam in Ithilien, and I gather you agree with me. The action in the movie had to move the plot along, and it had to make dramatic sense in a movie that really lacks a proper beginning or end. All the same, I think Faramir’s refusal of the Ring after vowing not to take the Ring “if it lay by the highway” could have been done in a dramatically satisfying way that would have been truer to Tolkien’s story and also produced a better movie.

    The obvious inscription for the wedding ring would be “One Ring to Rule Them All,” but the intended might object!

  • “It was romantic and mysterious to stand here in the deep gloom and look out upon the green valley shining in the sun.”

    — from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, Chapter 29. It describes the entrance of McDougal’s Cave, which is based on a real cave in Missouri. I’m wondering if Tolkien knew this story. Another influence might be the hillside refuge in The Antiquary by Sir Walter Scott (Chapter 21). This novel also includes a rope-rescue, and the title character is a Mr Oldbuck.

  • Great interview with Dave Brons!

    I did a random sample of Dave Brons’ “Not All Those Who Wander are Lost” concept album. The format reminded me of Rick Wakeman’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” great quotes followed by great prog. I will definitely purchase Dave’s work. Perhaps he should consider an “Arda on Ice World Tour! 🙂

    RICK WAKEMAN 1975 Live at the Empire Pool King Arthur on Ice
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO3KAqsqjaY

  • I first married in May 1988. We were both Tolkien fans, so on our invitation (and as part of the table centerpieces) we used this poem:

    All Ye Joyful
    by J. R. R. Tolkien

    Sing all ye joyful, now sing all together!
    The wind’s in the tree-top, the wind’s in the heather;
    The stars are in blossom, the moon is in flower,
    And bright are the windows of night in her tower.
    Dance all ye joyful, now dance all together!
    Soft is the grass, and let foot be like feather!
    The river is silver, the shadows are fleeting;
    Merry is May-time, and merry our meeting.
    Sigh no more pine, till the wind of the morn!
    Fall Moon! Dark be the land!
    Hush! Hush! Oak, ash and thorn!
    Hushed by all water, till dawn is at hand!

    I still have my wedding ring with “merry our meeting” engraved inside… in a wooden box.

    * * * * *

    When I married again in May 1995, my new bride agreed that an elvish engraving would be perfect. I created runes which (I hoped) meant “may Jim and Lori never end this.” The runes are gorgeous but I just used the alphabet key to translate. I didn’t know anyone who spoke elvish. I wanted it to encircle our rings like The One Ring script, with the notion that it was a circular formulation: may J&L never end this; J&L never end this May; never end this May J&L; etc. We tried to find an engraver but the results were unsatisfactory. So, although we are still together, my ring is plain, an unadorned gold band. And I have no desire (or will) to see what might happen if I throw it in the fire!

    • Hi Jim. I understand “Sing all ye joyful” (the poem in Hobbit Chapter 19) is a treasured memory so I hope what I have to say will add to it.

      There is a hymn, very popular in England: O Come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant!

      ‘Oak and Ash and Thorn’ is a 1906 song by Rudyard Kipling. I’m fairly sure Kipling was the first to put the words together in this exact way, though they all have significance in folklore. In fact Gandalf 1.0’s staff is thorn i.e. hawthorn (‘The Mirror of Galadriel’) and Gandalf 2.0’s staff is ash (‘The King of the Golden Hall’).

      I’m guessing ‘Oak and Ash and Thorn’ was stored away in the JRRT memory bank. He recycles it in ‘On Fairy-stories’ para 81.

      • Thanks for the context, Patrick!

        I just realized I dropped a very important word when I cut and pasted that poem. Sigh.

        P.S. My ex-wife and I were students at the University of Maryland in 1986, we sat together in a Tolkien class taught by Verlyn Flieger. We loved the class and we both got an “A.” 🙂

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