Glittering Caves

Andrew and Patrick speak with Grace Steele, a literature teacher at Vandamme Academy, about her experience teaching the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings in an elementary school setting.  Submit your questions and comments at adeoatus.com/podcast . Support the show at adeodatus.com/donate.

Patrick and Andrew review their different experiences of the great story and the podcast, their favorite chapters, their favorite characters, and lasting effects. Submit your questions and comments at adeoatus.com/podcast . Support the show at adeodatus.com/donate.

Andrew and Patrick discuss the contributions the Four Travellers make to the renewed Shire - Merry and Pippin’s Lordliness, Sam’s beautiful family life and dedicated leadership, Frodo’s writing of the great story of their adventure. Sam’s healthy wholeness contrasts with Frodo’s lingering wounds which can only be healed by leaving the Shire for good. Submit your questions and comments at adeoatus....

The Hobbits find the Shire has become a land of Rules and ugliness, but they are ready to ignite and direct a holy spirit of revolt. Patrick and Andrew focus on Merry’s military acumen and draw spiritual insight from Frodo’s Gandalf-like leadership, especially in dealing with the malice of Saruman. Submit your questions and comments at adeoatus.com/podcast . Support the show at adeodatus.com/donat...

The long journey home leads Patrick and Andrew to discuss how the hobbits have been changed by becoming used to being friends with Kings and Queens, Elves and Wizards. Will they find coming home difficult or are they, as Gandalf says, ready to handle any troubles they might find there? Will Frodo, whose sufferings have left scars on him, be able to find rest in the Shire? Submit your questions and...

Patrick and Andrew revel in the joy of the Eagle’s psalm of victory and Aragorn’s triumphant coronation. They discuss ways that the last three chapters can help readers enter into the spirit of Holy Week and Easter. Andrew waxes eloquent on Faramir’s courtship of Eowyn. Submit your questions and comments at adeoatus.com/podcast . Support the show at adeodatus.com/donate.

The discussion begins with Gandalf's awareness that Quest has been achieved, the role of the Eagles, and the drama of Sauron's demise. Patrick and Andrew then delight in the eucatastrophic joy experienced by Sam, Gandalf's fountain of laughter, and the minstrel's singing of Frodo and Sam's accomplishment. They reflect on the taste of heavenly joy Tolkien gives his readers while still remembering t...

In this epic climactic chapter, Andrew and Patrick discuss Sam's will to endure, Frodo's dark night of suffering, and the moments of grace that see them through. Sam's pity for Gollum enables the Quest to be achieved; Frodo's heroic resistance to the Ring, though overcome, earns a return to peace and an enduring gift of humility. Submit your questions and comments at adeoatus.com/podcast . Support...

The roles of Frodo and Sam are reversed after the escape from Cirith Ungol. While Frodo, without hope, can only will to go on, Sam, finding hope in light, water and the beauty of a star, becomes the resourceful and resilient leader. Patrick and Andrew note the doubt that afflicts Sauron in spite of his mighty empire, which in the end is doomed to self-destruction. Submit your questions and comment...

As they begin the final book of The Lord of the Rings , Andrew and Patrick marvel at Sam's fidelity and hardihood, and reflect on the plain hobbit-sense that allows him to overcome the tempting fantasies aroused by the Ring. This gives them a glimpse of what Frodo will be suffering as they move forward on the long road to Mt. Doom. They contrast the petty squabbling that destroys the orcs with the...

Patrick and Andrew discuss the sense of despair that Tolkien leaves us with at the end of Book V and how it seems to undo the hope that had come from victory and healing. Merry struggles with being left behind while Pippin goes to face his death. Aragorn treats the terror of raw recruits with mercy, while the Mouth of Sauron appears as an empty bully. Submit your questions and comments at adeoatus...

Andrew and Patrick highlight the differences that make the friendship of Legolas and Gimli so unique, discuss the power of terror that the Dead have and of leadership that allows Aragorn to control them, and explore the role that Aragorn and Gandalf play in helping Frodo and Sam on the quest to destroy the Ring. Submit your questions and comments at adeoatus.com/podcast . Support the show at adeod...

Merry and Pippin each exhibit the maturity their adventures have brought them. Patrick and Andrew liken the effects of the Black Breath to the sufferings of chronic illness, admire how Aragorn's political humility brings about a new order of unity under Gandalf, and note how Faramir, Eowyn, and Merry each respond differently to the healing authority of Aragorn. Submit your questions and comments a...

Andrew and Patrick marvel at the gamut of emotions in this chapter, from the triumphant hope of the horns of the Rohirrim and the eruption of sunlight to the dark despair and terror of being burnt alive. Gandalf's Providential prudence, his pity, and respect for human dignity come out in his intense dialogue with Denethor, who has been led to proud despair by the half-truths of the Enemy. Submit y...

The Rohirrim are aided by the strange, secretive Wild Men of the Woods, to reach the Pelennor Fields in time to save Minas Tirith. The Rohirrim are in their glory - Theoden leads the charge, Eowyn defies the Lord of the Nazgul, Eomer brazenly defies death. Merry rallies to protect Eowyn and Aragorn returns triumphantly from the Paths of the Dead. Submit your questions and comments at adeoatus.com/...

In this episode, Pippin shows courage in the face of Denethor's mad choice to burn himself and his son, Faramir. Patrick and Andrew reflect on the power of leaders like Faramir and Gandalf to elevate the courage of those who follow them and the power of the Enemy's psychological warfare to destroy it. Finally they explore how Denethor's character corrupted in spite of years of faithful leadership....

In this session, we experience the mountains and strongholds of Rohan through Merry's eyes as he learns the disturbing news about his friends taking the Paths of the Dead. We marvel at the character of the Rohirrim, especially their stern loyalty as they face the possible destruction of their people. Patrick can hardly wait to read on! Submit your questions and comments at adeoatus.com/podcast . S...

Patrick and Andrew marvel at Aragorn as the hour begins for him to confront Sauron, a  battle he has prepared for throughout his life. They feel Eowyn's pain at being denied the only life of greatness she can imagine and Merry's gratitude to Theoden for giving him a role to play. Submit your questions and comments at adeoatus.com/podcast . Support the show at adeodatus.com/donate.

In this episode we begin the final volume of the Lord of the Rings, following Gandalf and Pippin into the great but decaying city of Minas Tirith. Pippin and his new friend, Beregond of the Tower Guard, look for hope in the face of despair, while Gandalf faces off with Denethor, the powerful but proud Ruling Steward of Gondor. Submit your questions and comments at adeoatus.com/podcast . Support th...

Andrew proclaims these past two chapters his most exciting reading experience ever. Patrick is delighted at how the fight with Shelob glorifies all of Sam’s Samness. Andrew follows the track that leads from Sam’s despair through a mystical experience back to being himself again. They follow Sam from passion for revenge and thoughts of suicide back to clarity about what he must do - and the turn th...

Andrew and Patrick delve deeply into the epic spiritual battle between Darkness and Light experienced by Frodo and Sam. The power of a darkness that eats light and memory reminds Patrick of spiritual desolation and Andrew of the disorienting isolation of Hell. They wonder at the will that keeps the hobbits going and at how the touch of the solid sword and the memory of Tom Bombadil leads Sam to re...

Patrick and Andrew consider Frodo and Sam as models of male friendship, which builds as they rely on each other in adversity and talk with each other about the meaning of their journey. Frodo shows a growing power of will to resist the force of the Ring and the Lord of the Nazgul, while Sméagol experiences a momentary release from the Ring-lust that made him into Gollum. Submit your questions and...

In this two-chapter episode, we learn much more about Gondor, its ancient greatness and current decline. Faramir contrasts Boromir’s warrior mentality with his own nostalgic hope to preserve Gondor’s wisdom and beauty, which lead Andrew and Patrick to reflect on the crisis of Western civilization in our own times. In spite of his own loathing of Gollum, Frodo chooses to save him and follow him to...

We get our first look at Gondorians other than Boromir, and at Boromir’s brother, Faramir. Frodo impresses them with his careful and courteous speech, while Sam delights at the terror of the great “oliphaunt”. Submit your questions and comments at adeoatus.com/podcast . Support the show at adeodatus.com/donate.

In this episode, Patrick reflects on the new experience of nature he gained from his recent trip to the Badlands of South Dakota, setting the stage for discussing the land of Ithilien, “The Garden of Gondor”. Patrick and Andrew admire Sam’s devotion to Frodo, but debate his wisdom in cooking something “hot from the pot”. Submit your questions and comments at adeoatus.com/podcast . Support the show...