391 – By Grabthar’s Hammer, What a Book!

Join The Man of the West and The Shieldmaiden of Rohan for a very special conversation with Dr. Michael D.C. Drout, author of The Tower and the Ruin: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Creation, the new must-read book about Tolkien’s legendarium. Professor Drout builds the best dark towers ever, confesses his man-crush on Tom Shippey, and starts a fight with Alan about the talking fox. We discuss Jerry Springer in Middle-earth, laugh at a joke no one else laughed at, and whole-heartedly agree with Mike that “they cannot conquer forever.” This is a long and heartfelt conversation that every Tolkien fan should listen to — immediately before buying The Tower and the Ruin. Also, the title really is relevant, I promise.

Recommended Reading

The Tower and the Ruin: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Creation
Drout, Michael D.C. (W.W. Norton & Company, hardcover)

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

The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of the Lord of the Rings
Tolkien, J. R. R. (William Morrow, paperback)

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

The Silmarillion
Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) (William Morrow, paperback)

The Hobbit
Tolkien, J. R. R. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, paperback)



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