J.R.R. Tolkien
Lord of the Rings
The time has come! Six years ago Craig and Ryan kicked off the Legendarium podcast with a read-through of the Lord of the Rings. Now they’re back, and they’ve got Kyle and Megan in tow as well. In this episode they discuss a bit about the hobbits, the pacing, the poetry and the reasons for Gandalf’s 17-year absence. If you’re hoping to get your fix of Professor Craig, stick around, because that mostly happens toward the end. A note: If you’re looking for an in-depth discussion of the minutiae of this book, look elsewhere! But you can enjoy a discussion amongst friends loosely based around the first book of The Lord of the Rings.
LOTR: Book 1
Craig, Ryan, Megan, and Kyle discuss the second book in The Lord of the Rings–or to put it another way, the second half of The Fellowship of the Ring. They get into lots of listener questions, like whether the Rivendell chapters are too long, whether balrogs should have wings, whether the fellowship sufficiently mourns Gandalf, and much, much more. Enjoy!
LOTR: Book 2
Craig, Ryan, and Megan (no Kyle today) talk about book 3 of The Lord of the Rings, being the first half of The Two Towers.They take on the entrelacement writing technique Tolkien employs, Aragorn’s character arc (yep, he has one!), and the nature of the palantiri. Craig is of course back with his recap poem, but Megan decides to one up him by singing on this episode. Trigger warning.
LOTR: Book 3
Craig, Ryan, and Megan reunite remotely for the next installment of their Lord of the Rings series of podcasts. Up today, Book 4, or the latter half of The Two Towers. In these ten chapters, we follow Frodo, Sam, and Gollum through the Emyn Muil, the Dead Marshes, Ithilien, and Shelob’s Lair. The panelists will discuss the split nature of the narrative, Sam’s place in the reader’s experience, and why Gollum’s final betrayal is possibly Tolkien’s best writing in all of The Lord of the Rings.
LOTR: Book 4
Ryan, Megan, and Professor Craig (whose elbow patches are back from the shop and in better shape than ever) tackle book 5 of The Lord of the Rings. There are battles and ghosts and pirates and dramatic suicides, among many other exciting things, so Craig kicks off the discussion with … 5 minutes about word order in the hobbits’ speech. Riveting stuff, rest assured.
LOTR: Book 5
Ryan, Megan, and Professor Craig (whose elbow patches are back from the shop and in better shape than ever) tackle book 5 of The Lord of the Rings. There are battles and ghosts and pirates and dramatic suicides, among many other exciting things, so Craig kicks off the discussion with … 5 minutes about word order in the hobbits’ speech. Riveting stuff, rest assured.
LOTR: Book 5
The Silmarillion
Kip Rasmussen
Ainulindale
Ryan, Megan, and Professor Craig (whose elbow patches are back from the shop and in better shape than ever) tackle book 5 of The Lord of the Rings. There are battles and ghosts and pirates and dramatic suicides, among many other exciting things, so Craig kicks off the discussion with … 5 minutes about word order in the hobbits’ speech. Riveting stuff, rest assured.
Beren & Luthien
Ryan, Megan, and Professor Craig (whose elbow patches are back from the shop and in better shape than ever) tackle book 5 of The Lord of the Rings. There are battles and ghosts and pirates and dramatic suicides, among many other exciting things, so Craig kicks off the discussion with … 5 minutes about word order in the hobbits’ speech. Riveting stuff, rest assured.
Akallabeth
Kip Rasmussen
Feanor & The Silmarils
Ryan, Megan, and Professor Craig (whose elbow patches are back from the shop and in better shape than ever) tackle book 5 of The Lord of the Rings. There are battles and ghosts and pirates and dramatic suicides, among many other exciting things, so Craig kicks off the discussion with … 5 minutes about word order in the hobbits’ speech. Riveting stuff, rest assured.
Of Túrin Turambar
Silmarillion Read-Along Part 1
Welcome to the Legendarium's Silmarillion read-along! In this first installment, Craig, Ryan, and Kyle will discuss the first chunk of the book, including Ainulindalë, Valaquenta, and the first two chapters of Quenta Silmarillion.
Silmarillion Read-Along Part 2
Welcome to the Legendarium's Silmarillion read-along! In this second installment, Craig, Ryan, and Kyle will discuss the next chunk of the book, including chapters 3, 4, and 5 of the Quenta Silmarillion.
Silmarillion Read-Along Part 5
Welcome to the Legendarium's Silmarillion read-along! In this fifth installment, Craig, Ryan, and Kyle will discuss the next chunk of The Silmarillion, including chapters 13 through 15 of the Quenta Silmarillion.
Silmarillion Read-Along Part 3
Welcome to the Legendarium's Silmarillion read-along! In this third installment, Craig, Ryan, and Kyle will discuss the next chunk of The Silmarillion, including chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the Quenta Silmarillion.
Silmarillion Read-Along Part 4
Welcome to the Legendarium's Silmarillion read-along! In this fourth installment, Craig, Ryan, and Kyle will discuss the next chunk of The Silmarillion, including chapters 10, 11, and 12 of the Quenta Silmarillion.
Silmarillion Read-Along Part 6
Welcome to the Legendarium's Silmarillion read-along! In this sixth installment, Craig, Ryan, and Kyle will discuss the next chunk of The Silmarillion, including chapters 16 through 18 of the Quenta Silmarillion
Silmarillion Read-Along Part 7
Welcome to the Legendarium's Silmarillion read-along! In this sixth installment, Craig, Ryan, and Kyle discuss the next chunk of The Silmarillion: "Of Beren and Luthien," chapter 19 of the Quenta Silmarillion.
Silmarillion Read-Along Part 8
Welcome to the Legendarium's Silmarillion read-along! In this eighth installment, Craig, Ryan, and Kyle discuss the next chunk of The Silmarillion: "Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad" and "Of Turin Turambar," chapters 20 and 21 of the Quenta Silmarillion.
Silmarillion Read-Along Part 9
Welcome to the Legendarium's Silmarillion read-along! In this ninth installment, Craig, Ryan, and Kyle discuss the next chunk of The Silmarillion: "Of the Ruin of Doriath," "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin," and "Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath," chapters 22 through 24 of the Quenta Silmarillion.
Silmarillion Read-Along Part 10
After a VERY long break, Craig and Ryan are back with part 10 of their Silmarillion read-along, this time covering AKALLABÊTH. This is part 10 of 11 in the read-along, so things are drawing near the end!
Silmarillion Read-Along Part 11
It's here! This is the final episode in our Silmarillion read-along. Ryan and Craig sit down to discuss "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age," the final section of The Silmarillion.
The Hobbit
Craig, Ryan, and Megan reunite remotely for the next installment of their Lord of the Rings series of podcasts. Up today, Book 4, or the latter half of The Two Towers. In these ten chapters, we follow Frodo, Sam, and Gollum through the Emyn Muil, the Dead Marshes, Ithilien, and Shelob’s Lair. The panelists will discuss the split nature of the narrative, Sam’s place in the reader’s experience, and why Gollum’s final betrayal is possibly Tolkien’s best writing in all of The Lord of the Rings.
Chapters 1-3
Ryan, Megan, and Professor Craig (whose elbow patches are back from the shop and in better shape than ever) tackle book 5 of The Lord of the Rings. There are battles and ghosts and pirates and dramatic suicides, among many other exciting things, so Craig kicks off the discussion with … 5 minutes about word order in the hobbits’ speech. Riveting stuff, rest assured.
Chapters 4-7
Ryan, Megan, and Professor Craig (whose elbow patches are back from the shop and in better shape than ever) tackle book 5 of The Lord of the Rings. There are battles and ghosts and pirates and dramatic suicides, among many other exciting things, so Craig kicks off the discussion with … 5 minutes about word order in the hobbits’ speech. Riveting stuff, rest assured.
Chapters 8-11
Craig, Ryan, and Megan reunite remotely for the next installment of their Lord of the Rings series of podcasts. Up today, Book 4, or the latter half of The Two Towers. In these ten chapters, we follow Frodo, Sam, and Gollum through the Emyn Muil, the Dead Marshes, Ithilien, and Shelob’s Lair. The panelists will discuss the split nature of the narrative, Sam’s place in the reader’s experience, and why Gollum’s final betrayal is possibly Tolkien’s best writing in all of The Lord of the Rings.
Chapters 12-14
Ryan, Megan, and Professor Craig (whose elbow patches are back from the shop and in better shape than ever) tackle book 5 of The Lord of the Rings. There are battles and ghosts and pirates and dramatic suicides, among many other exciting things, so Craig kicks off the discussion with … 5 minutes about word order in the hobbits’ speech. Riveting stuff, rest assured.
Chapters 15-19
Short Stories
In 1944, Professor Tolkien published a short story about a strange little man who was obsessed with a single piece of art that consumed his entire life. Sound familiar? It should. And if it doesn’t, then listen on, and we’ll lift the extraordinarily thin veil from this little wishful allegory. Ryan’s taking a sick day for this one, so Craig, Todd, and Megan hash this one out without him.
Leaf by Niggle
Craig, Ryan, Kenn, and Todd talk about Tolkien’s mock fairy tale, Farmer Giles of Ham. It’s a delightful little short story, without too much meat on its bones, so it makes for a perfect read on a slow afternoon. Don’t worry about spoilers, since there’s not much to spoil with this one, but if you enjoy the episode, go find a copy (PDFs abound online) to read in less than an hour.
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