In Chapter 15 of The Silmarillion, Turgon heeds Ulmo's warning and begins the construction of the hidden city of Gondolin. The truth finally comes out about why the Noldor returned to Beleriand, and Thingol is not pleased. Plus a special...
In my previous essay for the Prancing Pony Ponderings series, I wrote of Frodo’s meeting with the Elves of Gildor Inglorion’s company in the Woody End in Book I of The Lord of the Rings as an initiation into the mythic world, and found...
It’s a small world, after all. Take a trip around the map with Alan and Shawn in Chapter 14 of The Silmarillion, Tolkien’s extensive description of the geography and realms of the Elves in Beleriand. Also, we receive a lesson in Dwarvish...
We are pleased to share a special announcement! On January 3, The Prancing Pony Podcast will be releasing a special episode in honor of Professor Tolkien’s 125th birthday – and just like a good hobbit, we are giving away gifts to celebrate! We’ll be...
In this Prancing Pony Pondering, I want to take a look at just one example of how deep and rich Tolkien’s backstories often were. As he pointed out in On Fairy-Stories, when an author can do this well, [T]he story maker proves a successful ‘sub...
A great feast is held in the conclusion of Chapter 13 of The Silmarillion, but not all is well in Beleriand, and two Elf-princes receive important messages about taking action before it’s too late. The Noldor successfully place Angband under a siege...
When considering the place of the stars in the Middle-earth legendarium, two things likely come to mind: the figure of Varda/Elbereth, the Queen of the Stars who looms large in the pantheon of the Valar; and the name by which the Elves refer to...
In Chapter 13 of The Silmarillion, Fëanor's host arrives in Middle-earth shortly before Fingolfin's, leading to an awkward family reunion that just gets more awkward when somebody calls Uncle Thingol. Fëanor's dream of revenge goes up in flames, and...
As you may know, I rather enjoyed The Lord of the Rings films despite my occasional (albeit entirely reasonable) criticism of certain aspects. However, one of the things I especially didn’t enjoy was the way the they effectively made Frodo appear…...
Beloved listeners – we hope you are as excited as we are to hear about the debut of a new section of our website: Prancing Pony Ponderings! Before Alan and Shawn embarked upon the Prancing Pony Podcast, we were discussing our ideas in a...