Isildur counsels his successors to bring their heirs to the Hill of Awe to reveal the secrets of the realm; Alan and Matt wonder if there’s a Gondorian equivalent to Area 51. Join us as we step back in time to the establishment of the Tradition of Isildur in our final episode on Cirion & Eorl. Isildur gets out a map and points to the middle (like putting a memorial to George Washington in the middle of Kansas), the Stewards play rules-lawyer to justify their going to the hallow and then hardly ever go, and Cirion makes a tough decision about exhumation. We discover that Tolkien thinks he’d squandered his best “motifs and characters” in The Hobbit, discover that an absence of dead people means an absence of alfirin, and suggest that you talk to your doctor to see if Meneldil is right for you. Also, a Barrow-wight that sounds a little like Tom Bombadil.
Recommended Reading
The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
Tolkien, J. R. R. (William Morrow, paperback)
Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth
Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) (Mariner Books, paperback)
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Carpenter, Humphrey ed. (William Morrow, paperback)
The Lord of the Rings: A Reader’s Companion
Scull, Christina & Wayne Hammond (William Morrow, hardcover)
