Our second episode on Chapter 5 of The Hobbit. Tension mounts as the riddle contest between Bilbo and Gollum continues, with Bilbo’s life at stake. His luck saves him in the final round, but when Gollum accuses him of not playing fair, he’s still very much in danger. We compare the current text to the first edition to see how Tolkien transformed Gollum from a hungry, but honest, monster into a “miserable wicked creature” corrupted by the One Ring. And we welcome a listener to the North Wing of the Prancing Pony in a new segment!
Recommended Reading:
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit (Mariner Books, paperback) pp. 71-78, “Riddles in the Dark”
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit Facsimile First Edition (HarperCollins, hardcover)
Tolkien, J. R. R. and Douglas A. Anderson, ed. The Annotated Hobbit (HarperCollins, hardcover)
Rateliff, John D. The History of the Hobbit (HarperCollins, one-volume hardcover)
Just went back to find this episode after listening to the first Live at Mythmoot episode, expressly to find the navigator segment. It still has me in tears before the digression ends!
Is there anywhere this segment is clipped out and posted on its own, so that I can share it with less patient friends?
…episode 063, that is.
The title of this episode should be “Gollum’s Sushi Hut.” :)~