Shire Reckoning

This week, we spend some time with Beorn and his Very Strange House in Chapter Seven of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit . Why are the rituals of courtesy so important? How does this encounter mirror the first chapter of the book? Who is Beorn, and where does he come from? You can see the video version of this podcast here , and the slides are available for download by clicking here . Show Notes: Shire...

This week, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim . How does this film combine anime influences and the visual language of the Jackson movies? Is the entire Rohirric civil war the fault of Helm Hammerhand? How do we understand Hèra's final fate? Thanks to Simon for the question! Show Notes The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim  (2024) Doom "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian E...

This week, Bilbo escapes from the dark and climbs a tree in Chapter Six of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit . How is the Wild different from the West? How do we understand the focus and the orientation of Goblin Town? Why did Gandalf have to say giant ? You can see the video version of this podcast here , and the slides are available for download by clicking here . Show Notes: Shire Reckoning Productio...

This week, adaptation. Tolkien originally envisioned his legendarium as a mythology to which other writers and artists could contribute. How, in the world of intellectual property and licensing agreements, are adaptations handled? What separates the good from the bad? Where do we go from here? Thanks to William for the question!  Show Notes "'Lord of the Rings’: Amazon and Tolkien Estate Win Copyr...

This week, we reach the turning point in Bilbo's career in Riddles in the Dark, Chapter Five of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit . How is Gollum presented in the first and second editions? What can we learn from the riddles? How quickly does the Ring begin to influence Bilbo, and what are the limits of its power? Unfortunately, the video from this week's live session was lost to a technical issue, but...

This week, the Aragorn, son of Arathorn. How was Aragorn first envisioned in the text? Why is he so influential as a character? Would he be even cooler with big wooden shoes? Show Notes The Peoples of Middle-earth  (Christopher Tolkien) The Seventh Doctor Severance Fringe "No One Listens to Melian: When Women Speak and Men Ignore Them in Middle-earth" (Sara Brown) Shire Reckoning is a Next Word pr...

This week, we face the greatest danger in the Misty Mountains in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. What are the qualities of the border between the West and the Wild? Why do the goblins sing? Are the giants real, really real, or just metaphorically real? Show Notes: The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien The History of the Hobbit  (John Ratliffe) The Road to Middle-earth  (Tom Shippey) Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien'...

This week, the paradoxical comforts of the Shire. How did it come into being, and how did the hobbits settle there? How does if embody and reject the vision of a nostalgic, nationalist England? And how long is the High Hay anyway? Show Notes The Pyrates  (George MacDonald Fraser) The Return of the Shadow  (The History of Middle-earth) Shire Reckoning "The Gods Return to Earth: C.S. Lewis’ Review o...

This week, we pause for prophecy at the Last Homely House in chapter three of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Is Elrond who he seems to be? What are the elves singing about? How much magic is evident in the moon-letters? Show Notes: The History of the Hobbit  (John Ratliffe) The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Shire Reckoning is a Next Word production. For bonus episodes and to support the show, visit Patr...

This week, the many mysteries of dwarves in Tolkien's legendarium. How do the dwarfs of Old Norse myth become the Longbeards of Khazad-dûm? What does the film trilogy get wrong about Gimli? How did dwarves become Scottish, anyway? Show Notes The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two Three Hearts and Three Lions (Poul Anderson) Magician (Raymond E. Feist) "Dwarves are Not Heroes": Antisemitism and the Dwarv...

This week, we continue our discussion of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, looking at the second chapter: trolls and talking purses, the Took and Baggins fighting for control of Bilbo, and the form of the fairytale.  Show Notes: The History of the Hobbit  (John Ratliffe) The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Shire Reckoning is a Next Word production. For bonus episodes and to support the show, visit Patreon.co...

This week, heroes and heroism in The Lord of the Rings. How do we react to arcs, or the absence of arcs? Is success a means of measuring the worth of a hero? Who gets the best arc in the whole book? Is Merry more of a Squirtle, or a Bulbasaur? Show Notes The Ballad Of Bilbo Baggins (Leonard Nimoy) Leaf By Niggle The Lord of the Rings Set, all 1st Printings of the 1st Edition (Abebooks) Pauline Bay...

This week, we read the first chapter of The Hobbit, and discuss the introduction of Bilbo, the temporary permanence of The Shire, the value of the unreliable narrator, and the (speculative) adventures of Belladonna Took. Show Notes: Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (Corey Olsen) The Annotated Hobbit  (Douglas A. Anderson) The History of the Hobbit  (John Ratliffe) Shire Reckoning is a Next Wo...

This week, how do we understand the how, what and why of magic and spellcasting in the stories of Professor Tolkien? Why is free will so important when it comes to asking for help? How do the adaptations of Tolkien's books stack up against those of other fantasy authors? Show Notes Was Gandalf Just A 5th Level Magic User? (EN World) A Wizard of Earthsea (Ursula K. Le Guin) A Wizard of Earthsea (19...

In our first live session, we take a look at the history of The Hobbit, from it's (very famous) initial conception, through to the publication of the first edition in 1937. How does this the tale of Bilbo Baggins sit alongside the great stories of Elves and Men that Tolkien was already writing? How are we to understand the narrative frame? Show Notes: Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (Corey O...

This week, the magic of maps in fantasy fiction -- and in Tolkien in particular -- and an introduction to the podcast. Show Notes L Frank Baum's map of Oz Robert E Howard's map of the Hyborian Age "Celebrating Christopher Tolkien's Cartographic Legacy" (John Crowe, Reactor) "What to expect from Amazon's Lord of the Rings show and its Second Age setting" (Devan Coggan, EW) LOTRProject Stars And Swo...

Welcome, and thanks for listening! Shire Reckoning is a new podcast dedicated to the study, discussion and celebration of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. The first episode will arrive on Sunday, July 13th, 2025. I hope you can join me! Shire Reckoning is a Next Word production. For bonus episodes and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/NextWord . Follow Shire Reckoning on YouTube , Bluesky and Ins...