Alan and Shawn welcome Verlyn Flieger back to The Prancing Pony Podcast to finish out our fourth season! We catch up with her on Beowulf, free will, and the mistakes of Túrin (because who can resist?). We also ask her thoughts on some of our favorite moments from Book II of The Lord of the Rings, like Lothlórien, Galadriel, and the “tra-la-la-lally”–free version of Rivendell. Finally, we discuss — and are treated to a sneak preview reading from — her new book Arthurian Voices, a series of monologues from the characters of Camelot.
Recommended Reading:
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays (HarperCollins, paperback)
What a delight to listen to this. And what a shock to realize that Dr. Flieger is someone on whose work I had based my college senior English major these about Tolkien on … back in 1987, thanks to Splintered Light. Getting one’s hands on any scholarly source about Tolkien back then was a challenge, so I thank you, Dr. Flieger for your guidance — and thank the Prancing Pony folks for having her on.