Greetings little masters, As you may have heard, Alan and Shawn have a book coming out in 2023! Titled “Why We Love Middle-earth: An Enthusiast’s Book about Tolkien, Middle-earth & the LOTR Fandom”, it is a guidebook for those...
Three episodes into the chapter, we finally meet Sméagol… and the other fellow sharing his brain. Sam jumps the creeping, crawling creature at the bottom of the cliff, which goes about as well for Master Gamgee as one might expect. Fortunately...
It’s our first live Q&A episode of the season, which means Alan and Shawn have got their speculating caps on for another round of questions from our guests! We field questions on the married life of the Valar (but not in the way you’re thinking)...
The company reaches Isengard and discovers that property values have tanked in recent months, and it's no wonder why when they see how poorly Saruman's been maintaining his yard. Holes in the ground fume and glow with unnatural light, the place is...
Waiting for the Ents to make a decision turns out to be an exercise in patience for Merry and Pippin, until Treebeard mercifully excuses them from the proceedings. He leaves them in the company of Quickbeam: a younger, hastier Ent who's about as...
At Wellinghall, Merry and Pippin learn more about the Ents' hope for the future (in song form!) and get some sleep — horizontally — before leaving in the morning for Entmoot under the protective bough of Treebeard. We call The Council together as we...
After hearing Merry and Pippin's account of their recent adventures, Treebeard starts talking (and doesn't stop) about wizards, ecopolitics, and "the one that got away". Unfortunately, spokesplants for Fimbrethil and the Entwives have not responded...
Merry and Pippin travel deeper into Fangorn Forest with a guided tour (really more of a picked-up-and-carried tour) provided by Treebeard. Soon they arrive at Wellinghall, where he sets them down and offers them jars of some potent drink that we can...
Escaping from mortal danger into deadly peril, Merry and Pippin wander into Fangorn Forest. The place seems more strange than scary, but it's far from welcoming; and an offhand comment by Pippin about almost liking the forest attracts the attention...
Following up on our previous examination of race in Tolkien's work in Episode 114, today we welcome listeners of different racial and ethnic backgrounds to join us and share their experiences of Tolkien's works and fandom. We urge all listeners to...