Amon Sûl

Dr. Cyril Jenkins joins Fr. Andrew to cover chapter 12 of The Hobbit, “Inside Information.” Dragons sit on gold, conversations are had with the wyrm, and key narrative links are made to Beowulf and the Volsungasaga. But what does it mean to be King Under the Mountain? Hidden Past and Celtic Impulse, both by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 Lice...

Fr. Anthony Cook returns to The Last Homely House to talk about the autobiographical origins of the earliest version of the story of Beren & Luthien. Richard and Fr. Anthony read the wild and wonderful Tale of Tinuviel, discussing love, marriage, cats, dogs, and spiders along the way. And, we find out that actually, Fr. Anthony doesn’t need his legs. Hidden Past and Celtic Impulse, both by Kevin M...

Pop culture columnist and fantasy fiction writer Elizabeth Dresdow joins the podcast to discuss chapter 11 of The Hobbit, “On the Doorstep.” She shares her thoughts on “The Rings of Power” and its reception and explores with Fr. Andrew why the Dwarves can’t seem to remember that they have a key. They wrap up with reading an iconic moment from LOTR and a prophetic jaunt toward Isengard. Hidden Past...

In this second installment of our mini-series on Beren and Luthien, Richard Rohlin is joined by Andrea with the Bangs. Together, they talk about the masculine and the feminine, the difference between masculine and feminine heroic archetypes, and the way that those archetypes come together to create what is not just one of the most important stories of the legendarium, but one of the most beautiful...

Michael Haldas returns to the podcast to talk with Fr. Andrew about chapter 10 of The Hobbit, “A Warm Welcome,” in which Bilbo and the Dwarves arrive at Laketown. But what is the lost history of the city-state of Dale? What does it mean to be the Master? And what happens when your legends show up and walk through town? They discuss all this and more, but first they respond to a listener question a...

Richard Rohlin is rejoined by guest co-host Tom Hillman who shows up… prepared to talk about something else entirely? It all works out in the end, though, as Rohlin and Hillman begin a discussion of Beren & Luthien. What makes this story so beautiful, and what did Legolas mean when he said that the line of Luthien would never end? Hidden Past and Celtic Impulse, both by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompet...

Richard joins Fr. Andrew to read chapter 9 of The Hobbit, “Barrels Out of Bond.” We meet the Elvenking, learn about the Wood Elves’ fondness for wine, and Bilbo does what it takes to acquire his great title of “Barrel Rider.” Also, there is no Tauriel. Not even a little bit. And where is Legolas? No idea. Hidden Past and Celtic Impulse, both by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com) Licensed under Cr...

Richard Rohlin is joined by Fr. Anthony Cook. Together, they read Chapter 18 of the Silmarillion “Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin” and discuss the primacy of poetry in the Legendarium. And yeah, there’s also a little Rings of Power chatter in here, but we promise, not too much. Hidden Past and Celtic Impulse, both by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Co...

Fresh from watching the first two episodes of the new Amazon Tolkien series “The Rings of Power,” Fr. Andrew and Richard give their initial impressions – what they liked, what they didn’t like, and that haunting, uncomfortable feeling Richard has that there is a lot of acne in Amazon’s Middle-earth. Spoilers included! Hidden Past and Celtic Impulse, both by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com) Lice...

Rev. Michael Landsman (Fr. Andrew’s co-host on the Areopagus Podcast) finally joins the podcast to talk about chapter 8 of The Hobbit with its spiders, enchanted forest, and that elven dinner party that you can’t quite reach. The episode wraps up with Michael serving up a melancholic slice of shared beauty. Hidden Past and Celtic Impulse, both by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com) Licensed under...

Richard Rohlin is joined by Aaron Irber, the host of the “I Might Believe in Fairies” podcast. They continue Richard’s deep-read through the Silmarillion with Chapter 17 “Of the Coming of Men into the West” and talk about why it turns out to have been one of the most important and overlooked chapters in the book. Hidden Past and Celtic Impulse, both by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com) Licensed...

Fr. Anthony Cook returns to the podcast to talk about everyone’s favorite were-bear in “Queer Lodgings,” chapter 7 of The Hobbit, not to mention animals who walk upright, the proper greetings of eagles, the many blessings in The Hobbit, and Gandalf as the match-maker who introduces Beorn to his future Missus. References to Beowulf and Icelandic sagas naturally abound. Hidden Past and Celtic Impuls...

Richard is joined by recurring guest Deacon Nicholas Kotar to discuss Chapter 16 of the Quenta Silmarillion “Of Maeglin.” They talk about the dark side of Tolkien, dish on the new Obi-Wan Kenobi show, and answer some of your questions about recommendations for contemporary fantasy authors. Hidden Past and Celtic Impulse, both by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons B...

Dr. Cyril Jenkins returns to the podcast to discuss “Out of the Frying-pan Into the Fire,” chapter 6 of The Hobbit. Is this the real turning point in Bilbo’s career? What does the virtue of duty mean? And are eagles the anti-dragons? Includes a big “save the date” announcement! Hidden Past and Celtic Impulse, both by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attributio...

Richard is joined by fellow parishioner and philologist Scott Brewer, and the two of them finally cut loose about their deep love of lenition, morphology, and the English language. They read Chapter 15 “Of the Noldor in Beleriand,” drop some hot takes and weird language lore, and pull back the veil on the wild and scandalous world of linguistics. Hidden Past and Celtic Impulse, both by Kevin MacLe...

Fr. Andrew and Richard tackle “The Quest of Erebor,” a text found in Unfinished Tales that provides depth and context for The Hobbit. They talk about whether and how texts like this count as “Tolkien Apocrypha,” Thorin’s real opinion of Bilbo, and how flawed heroes fit into the larger story of both the Tolkien legendarium and the salvation of the world in Christ. Hidden Past and Celtic Impulse, bo...

Richard is joined by Fr. Andrew for this month’s installment of The Last Homely House as they discuss orcs, ogres, and take a deep dive into the notorious lucky number chapter fourteen of the Quenta Silmarillion: Of Beleriand and Its Realms. In this podcast, you’ll learn everything you ever wanted to know about vowel shifts in Sindarin, the exciting and highly profitable field of onomastics, and w...

Is it nice, my preciousss? Is it juicy? Is it scrumptiously crunchable? Christian Gonzalez joins Fr. Andrew to riddle some riddles in the dark, looking at chapter 5 of The Hobbit. They also address listener questions about the morality of Bilbo Baggins and the original owners of Gollum’s cave. Fr. Andrew also talks about his big paper for this past semester on the Harrowing of Hell in Tolkien. Hid...

Stan Shin joins Richard Rohlin to talk about gaming and Tolkien, Tolkien and gaming, and field some questions from listeners about violence in our entertainment. They also read and discuss Chapter 13 of The Silmarillion, “The Return of the Noldor.” Hidden Past and Celtic Impulse, both by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License https://creative...

Dr. Joshua Moritz joins Fr. Andrew to discuss Chapter 4 of The Hobbit, “Over Hill and Under Hill,” where Bilbo, Gandalf, Thorin and company get dragged into the goblin underworld. It’s the first(?) and only(?) time we meet giants and the first time we meet orcs, who get bit and beat by Biter and Beater. They wrap up with a discussion of how orcs use language and reflect on life with a palantir. Hi...

Richard Rohlin is joined by philologist, classical educator, and bowtie aficionado Reno Lauro as they talk about language, “recovery,” and anthropology. They barely make it 2 paragraphs into Chapter 12 of The Silmarillion “Of Men,” and Reno offers some words of comfort and wisdom about the new Amazon Rings of Power show. Hidden Past and Celtic Impulse, both by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com) L...

Maritime surveyor Davede Thompson joins Fr. Andrew to cover a pivotal chapter in The Hobbit, “A Short Rest,” where we meet Elrond the master of Rivendell in his Last Homely House. They discuss the eucatastrophe of lore consolidation that occurs in this chapter and the idea of Rivendell as an image of the rest and sanctuary of the Church, and they wrap up with a short chat about adaptations of Tolk...

Dr. Cyril Jenkins joins Richard Rohlin to both catch up with Deacon Nicholas Kotar on guest appearances and also discuss the Sun, the Moon, and the Hiding of Valinor. Is the Sun masculine or feminine in Tolkien? And how well does one of Amon Sul’s most frequent guests remember trivia questions he’s answered before? Hidden Past and Celtic Impulse, both by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com) License...

“Roast Mutton,” Chapter Two of The Hobbit, is toasting slowly over the fire for our continued walk-through, and Fr. Andrew is joined by Dcn. Anthony Gaelan Gilbert to dodge trolls, ponder the proper roasting of dwarves, and where exactly the trolls were planning to spend all that gold they were hoarding. Hidden Past and Celtic Impulse, both by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com) Licensed under Cre...

John Heitzenrater joins the podcast to begin with Fr. Andrew a chapter-by-chapter walk-through of Tolkien’s seminal work, the novel that introduced most of us to Middle-earth – The Hobbit. In “An Unexpected Party,” we are introduced to Bag End, to Hobbits, to Bilbo Baggins, to Gandalf, to Dwarves, to the Quest for Erebor and… to Sauron(?!). Lay aside your walking-sticks and put on your swords, eve...