The Entmoot Podcast

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters 17 and 18 of the Quenta Silmarillion, including the coming of men into Beleriand, the death of Fingolfin, and Hurin and Huor's visit to Gondolin. Primary sources: The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Leave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Professor Robert Tally about his new book The Mismeasure of Orcs: A Critical Reassessment of Tolkien's Demonized Creatures , out now from McFarland Books. Robert Tally is a Professor of English at Texas State University. He's written extensively about Tolkien and Marxist literary criticism. More Rob: Representing Middle-earth: Tolkien, Form, and Ideology JRR...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Professor Stephen Yandell about Beowulf and the many ways it inspired Tolkien. Steve Yandell is a medievalist and Tolkien scholar who has been a Professor of English at Xavier University since 2003. He regularly teaches courses on both Tolkien and medieval literature, including Beowulf. More Steve: "A Pattern Which Our Nature Cries Out For": The Medieval Tra...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters 15 and 16 of the Quenta Silmarillion, including the founding of Gondolin, Thingol's abolition of Quenya, and the tragic tale of Eöl, Beleriand's palest and weirdest elf. Primary sources: The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Also mentioned: The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin The Summer Book - Tove Jansson Butcher...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Professor Robin Reid about feminist and queer Tolkien scholarship and fandom. Robin Reid is a Tolkien scholar who was a professor of English at Texas A&M University until her retirement in 2020. She is currently working on a book that will be a feminist reception study of women and non-binary readers of Tolkien, with updates posted on her Substack here ....

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters 13 and 14 of the Quenta Silmarillion, including the death of Feanor, the reuniting of the Noldor, and a very long description of a map. To make "Of Beleriand and Its Realms" a bit easier to digest, here are a couple maps: this one by Tolkien himself, this "cleaner" one by Sirelle on DeviantArt, and this political map by u/tolkien_erklaert on Reddit....

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters 10, 11, and 12 of the Quenta Silmarillion, including King Thingol of the Sindar, the creation of the sun and moon, and the coming of men (finally). Primary sources: The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Leave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more info...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss Tolkien's love of trees and the environment. Primary sources: The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Secondary sources: Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography Curry - Defending Middle-Earth Kocher - Master of Middle-Earth Hull (Reactor Mag) - The Long Defeat: Reading Tolkien in the Time of Climate Change Wikipedia - Environ...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Professor Gerry Canavan in a far-reaching conversation about loving Tolkien as leftists. Topics include Tolkien's racial politics, the political valences of science fiction and fantasy, Tolkien's abandoned Lord of the Rings sequel, and of course, Huan the talking dog. Gerry Canavan is the Chair of the English Department at Marquette University where he also...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss the history of adaptation rights to Tolkien's work. Sources: The Tolkien Trust and their finances The Times - Tolkien sold film rights to Lord of the rings to avoid taxman John Boorman and Rospo Pallenberg - Screenplay for The Lord of the Rings (1970) The Guardian - The saddest story in rock (The Zaentz/Fogerty scandal) Dan Olson [VIDEO] - An Exhaustive Hist...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapter nine of the Quenta Silmarillion, including Feanor's ascendancy to Noldoran leader, the death of Ungoliant, and the First Kinslaying. Primary sources: The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Leave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam take a break from actually discussing Tolkien and instead do a deep investigation into the life and times of a certain Tolkien fan. Harrington - Brief reflections on the politics of Dune The legendary Wikipedia article Carolyn Gallaher -- After The Peace The Third Way (the "wills and bequests" page is here ) Solidarity Union Great UK Products You Can Buy Leave us a...

In this EMERGENCY EPISODE, co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance's love of Tolkien. When the Entmoot Podcast wished for a Tolkien fan in the White House, the monkey's paw curled. This episode is a sequel to our 2022 episode Hard Right Hobbits, which you can find here . Sources: Adam Wren (Politico) - How Lord of the Rings Shaped JD Vance's Politics Simon va...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss Tolkien's 1967 novella Smith of Wootton Major . Primary sources: Smith of Wootton Major (PDF) | Tales From The Perilous Realm (includes SoWM as well as all of Tolkien's other "minor works") | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien | On Fairy Stories (PDF) Secondary sources: Kocher - Master of Middle-earth (out of print) Webb - The Lives of the Saints (contains KT's f...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss Tolkien's 1949 comic short story Farmer Giles of Ham . Primary sources: Farmer Giles of Ham (PDF) | Tales From The Perilous Realm (includes FGoH as well as all of Tolkien's other "minor works") | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Secondary sources: Kocher - Master of Middle-earth (out of print) Link to the Alan Lee illustration of Farmer Giles and his blunderbus...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss Tolkien's 1939 essay "On Fairy Stories." Part 2 of 2. Primary sources: On Fairy Stories (PDF) | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Secondary sources: Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography Le Guin - The Dispossessed For discussion of "Man and the Machine" in Tolkien's work: Hren - Middle-earth and the Return of the Common Good Leave us a...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss Tolkien's 1939 essay "On Fairy Stories." Part 1 of 2. Primary sources: On Fairy Stories (PDF) | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Secondary sources: Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography For discussion of Tolkien and race/culture: Mills - The Wretched of Middle-Earth: An Orkish Manifesto For discussion of Tolkien's arguments with Christ...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss Tolkien's experience fighting in World War I and the ways it informed his worldview. Primary sources: The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien | The Fall of Gondolin Secondary sources: Garth - Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-Earth Garth - The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien: The Places That Inspired Middle-Earth Ca...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters seven and eight of the Quenta Silmarillion, including Feanor's creation of the Silmarils, Melkor's first plot to steal the Silmarils, Feanor's exile from Valmar, and Melkor's destruction of the Trees. Primary sources: The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Secondary sources: Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography L...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam continue their discussion of a posthumously published essay by Charles W. Mills on the subject of race and racism in Lord of the Rings. Part 2 of 2. Primary sources: The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Secondary sources: Mills - The Wretched of Middle-Earth: An Orkish Manifesto | Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography Further re...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss a posthumously published essay by Charles W. Mills on the subject of race and racism in Lord of the Rings. Part 1 of 2. Primary sources: The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Secondary sources: Mills - The Wretched of Middle-Earth: An Orkish Manifesto | Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography Further reading: Mills - The Ra...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters three, four, and five of The Silmarillion, including the origin story of the Elves. Primary sources: The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Secondary sources: Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography Mentioned in this episode: A helpful diagram of the Elven "family tree" | Price - Children of Ash and Elm Leave us a r...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters one and two of the Quenta Silmarillion, including the creation of the Trees and the origins of the dwarves. Primary sources: The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Secondary sources: Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography Leave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pr...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss leftist interpretations of Tolkien's work, and take some detours along the way. Primary sources: The Hobbit | The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion | Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Secondary sources: Landa - Slaves of the Ring: Tolkien's Political Unconscious Curry - Defending Middle-Earth: Tolkien: Myth and M...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss the Valaquenta, our formal introduction to the Valar and the Maiar. Primary sources: The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Secondary sources: Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography Leave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.