Lore of the Rings | Explore JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and More | For all fans of Middle-earth

We dive into the history of evil as we compare chapter 7 of the Hobbit with it’s on-screen adaption in the form of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, the Desolation of Smaug. Let's wander! Come explore JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth, from the Lord of the Rings, to the Hobbit, to the Silmarillion, to Unfinished Tales and beyond! We compare Tolkien’s tales with Peter Jackson's films and Amazon'...

Bilbo meets the most perplexing creature yet, and another simple choice saves the fate of Middle-earth. Let's wander! Come explore JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth, from the Lord of the Rings, to the Hobbit, to the Silmarillion, to Unfinished Tales and beyond! We compare Tolkien’s tales with Peter Jackson's films and Amazon's Rings of Power series. Exclusive discounts for you : https://...

We finally reach the end of Peter Jackson’s first Hobbit Movie! We’ll compare chapter 6 from the book to its on screen adaptation, and explore how the story’s subtle shift in narrative focus resolves. Let's wander! Come explore JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth, from the Lord of the Rings, to the Hobbit, to the Silmarillion, to Unfinished Tales and beyond! We compare Tolkien’s tales with Peter Ja...

Bilbo Baggins becomes bacon . . . or at least he fears that he has. Some new creatures want to eat him, another new creature seems to want to eat him; yet despite feeling like food, Bilbo is starting to change, but is it all for the best? Let's wander! Come explore JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth, from the Lord of the Rings, to the Hobbit, to the Silmarillion, to Unfinished Tales and beyond! We...

Happy Tolkien Reading Day! March 25 marks the day when the One Ring was destroyed and the Dark Lord Sauron was overthrown. Every March 25 for the last 20 years, the Tolkien Society commemorates Tolkien Reading Day. This is a day to read and share your favorite Tolkien passages. Today’s episode is dedicated to Tolkien Reading Day. We will explore Tolkien’s thoughts on what makes a good story that h...

What is JRR Tolkien's influence on other fantasy authors? Fantasy author and Wheel of Time expert Jason Denzel joins me to discuss how Tolkien influenced Robert Jordan, Amazon's adaptations of both Wheel of Time and Rings of Power, and his experience in reading The Silmarillion for the first time. Come explore JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth, from the Lord of the Rings, to the Hobbit, to th...

Bilbo becomes separated from the dwarves, and strikes an odd deal with a slimy creature in order to get unlost, but also changes the fate of Middle-earth in the process. Come explore JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth, from the Lord of the Rings, to the Hobbit, to the Silmarillion, to Unfinished Tales and beyond! We compare Tolkien’s tales with Peter Jackson's films and Amazon's Rings of Power...

One of the most chilling elements of a fantasy story is the descent into darkness. Darkness is the realm of evil, where wicked power have a home-court advantage. But journeys into the dark have a way of bringing out the light, of forcing the actors of light to evolve and emerge stronger than when they entered the darkness.  Today we wander in the dark as we explore Bilbo Baggins’s journey into dar...

Lost in the dark, and without hope, Bilbo makes an unlikely discovery that has enormous ramifications for the fate of Middle-earth, meets a slimy creature who may not be all that different from himself, and wins a riddle game—accidently. Come explore JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth, from the Lord of the Rings, to the Hobbit, to the Silmarillion, to Unfinished Tales and beyond! We compare Tolkien’s...

Today we compare JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit chapter 4 with Peter Jackson’s on-screen adaptation in the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Extended edition, of course. Come explore JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth, from the Lord of the Rings, to the Hobbit, to the Silmarillion, to Unfinished Tales and beyond! We compare Tolkien’s tales with Peter Jackson's films and Amazon's Rings of Power series....

The dangers of adventure, an encounter with goblins, and the power of Gandalf. We continue our exploration of JRR Tolkien’s the Hobbit, by wandering through chapter 4: Over Hill and Under Hill. Come explore JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth, from the Lord of the Rings, to the Hobbit, to the Silmarillion, to Unfinished Tales and beyond! We compare Tolkien’s tales with Peter Jackson's films and Ama...

A Short Rest, but a long embellishment. Today we look at how The Hobbit movie adapts chapter 3 of JRR Tolkien’s the Hobbit. We dive into the deeper evils brewing around the quest, what the film has to say about the nature of elves, and look at a completely movie-made-up scene and see if it fits in this adaption. Come explore JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth, from the Lord of the Rings, to the Hobbit...

The nature of evil, the nature of elves, and a brief encounter with Elrond (curiously, not called Half-elven). We follow Bilbo and the dwarves on their adventure to the Lonely Mountain in chapter 3 of JRR Tolkien’s children’s classic, The Hobbit or There and Back Again Come explore JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth, from the Lord of the Rings, to the Hobbit, to the Silmarillion, to Unfinished Tales a...

Warner Bros Studios has announced new Lord of the Ring movies are in the works. I provide some thoughts on the directions they could go, and provide a warning for future Middle-earth film makers. Come explore JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth, from the Lord of the Rings, to the Hobbit, to the Silmarillion, to Unfinished Tales and beyond! We compare Tolkien’s tales with Peter Jackson's films and A...

We compare chapter 2 of the Hobbit to its on-screen portrayal, and continue exploring how little yet significant changes push our hobbit to the side and highlight the dwarves. Oh, and I even have a Rings of Power dig as well. Yeah, you didn’t know we were going there, but we will, and back again! Exclusive discounts for you : https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social medi...

Special guest Larry D. Curtis, a Tolkien journalist, joins me as we explore JRR Tolkien's influence culture, being on set for the Hobbit, and some criticisms on Rings of Power. Exclusive discounts for you : https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support the show with a w...

Food, fire, and foreshadowing: we wander the second chapter of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit, and explore how this simple chapter is a major clue to the rest of Bilbo’s adventure. Exclusive discounts for you : https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support the show with a wafer o...

We explore the opening of the movie The Hobbit, an Unexpected Journey, and compare it to the chapter in JRR Tolkien’s classic children’s book, The Hobbit. We will see how a seemingly-small change in the prologue shifts the entire story away from Tolkien’s tale. Exclusive discounts for you : https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the L...

How an unsuspecting, comfortable hobbit became the host of a party of dwarves and a burglar of a dragon: Today we explore chapter 1 of JRR Tolkien’s classic story: The Hobbit or There and Back Again. Exclusive discounts for you : https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Suppor...

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Tolkien’s simple opening line to his book The Hobbit wasn’t merely the first sentence to a children’s story of adventure, bravery, and dragons: this sentence is the first step in our own adventure of wandering Middle-earth. That unassuming yet provocative line opens us to a much wider world, to the epic struggle of good vs evil, of light overcoming the...

Remastered episode 1: "The Beginning of Middle-earth"! We introduce Tolkien's "The Silmarillion" and examine the creation story for Tolkien's mythology. Exclusive discounts for you : https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support the show with a wafer...

Who understands the Lord of the Rings better? Amazon’s Rings of Power, or the new artificial intelligence called ChatGPT.  I asked the AI three questions about Lord of the Rings, and its answers left me speechless. Today, I will explore three questions, giving you the responses from an artificial intelligence, and comparing them with how I assume Rings of Power answered the same questions. Exclusi...

I've seen Peter Jackson's LoTR movies nearly three dozen times, but I still notice new details and connections every time I watch them. Join me as I share new insights from the movies as I watch them in my annual Lord of the Rings movie marathon. Exclusive discounts for you : https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of...

I've seen Peter Jackson's LoTR movies nearly three dozen times, but I still notice new details and connections every time I watch them. Join me as I share new insights from the movies as I watch them in my annual Lord of the Rings movie marathon. Exclusive discounts for you : https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of...

The events of the Lord of the Rings book transpire in less than a year. But what a packed year it was; when the events of the First, Second, and nearly all the Third Age culminate in the overthrow of Sauron, the Return of the King, and the journey of a hobbit and his friend to Mt Doom in Mordor. Exclusive discounts for you : https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media...