The Tolkien Lore Podcast

Do you like strategy board games, especially games like Stratego?  Want some Lord of the Rings theming thrown in?  Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation is for you!

Many believe that Eowyn's change of heart at the end of the The Lord of. the Rings is the result of Tolkien's sexism, putting her back in her proper feminine role, but a careful reading of the story actually shows that this change actually elevates her character.   You can now find me on Rumble at https://rumble.com/c/c-355195  And on Odysee: https://odysee.com/@TolkienLore:f  You c...

The Rohirrim weren't always on good terms with Gondor, and they didn't always live in Rohan.  In this video I explain how they came to live in Rohan and some of the important events in their history.

Ever since Peter Jackson released the Lord of the Rings movies, Tolkien nerds have wondered if maybe the Silmarillion would ever get silver screen treatment.  Here's my idea of how to pull that off.

This video discusses some of the main differences between the original novel and Peter Jackson's movie version of the Council of Elrond, a pivotal chapter in the story.  Think I missed something important?  Let me know in the comments!

What are the biggest accomplishments of characters in Tolkien's mythos?  Here's my opinion.

Aragorn had an interesting life long before the events of The Lord of the Rings.  In this video I give a brief biography of this major character, including events both before and after the story we all know.   Video on the Kingdom of Arnor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t0zfrkinqc   On the Ring of Barahir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKFQSB-OCrw   My personal fan theory...

Tolkien wrote a lot of poetry in many different styles and modes.  I cover them briefly, as well as mentioning some of my favorites, in this video.    Titles referenced:   The Lays of Beleriand (History of Middle Earth, Vol. 3)  The Adventures of Tom Bombadil  The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun  The Fall of Arthur  Beowulf  Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pe...

The Lay of Aotrou & Itroun is one of three poems in the recent Tolkien publication, and in this video I discuss the poems and some other interesting tidbits.  You can find the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Lay-Aotrou-Itroun-J-Tolkien/dp/0008202133/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1485093924&sr=1-1&keywords=the+lay+of+aotrou+and+itroun

Here are a few major misconceptions about The Lord of the Rings you might have if you've only seen Peter Jackson's movies.

Though Tolkien filled in more gaps than perhaps any other fantasy author in history, he still left some tantalizing questions unanswered.  These are the ones I find most interesting from the Lord of the Rings.

It's almost impossible to find a good fantasy story without named weapons.  There are several such weapons in the Middle Earth universe, and not all of them are swords.  I discuss the weapons with names in the Hobbit and LotR stories and go into their histories and significance, and show off some of my collection!  Which is your favorite?  Leave a comment below!

There's a Looper.com page dedicated to false ideas about Lord of the Rings, but it turns out one of their "corrections" is actually false.  Here's the page: http://www.looper.com/33552/false-facts-lord-rings-always-thought-true/   To learn the truth, you'll want to read The Silmarillion: https://www.amazon.com/Silmarillion-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0544338014/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486302061...

In this video I review the only Lord of the Rings trivia board game a true LotR geek needs: J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Trivia Game, designed by Christian Petersen.  You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Fantasy-Flight-Games-Rings-Trivia/dp/B0001CU1OM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1481509956&sr=8-2&keywords=lord+of+the+rings+trivia+game

Faramir is a type of character we don't see much in modern culture, but I think we need more characters like him.  And Tolkien's version of him is a good example of how to make such characters interesting again.  In this video I discuss why I think Tolkien's Faramir is a good example of the "boy scout" who is actually interesting to the audience.

If you haven't read the Appendices to the Lord of the Rings, but you've seen the movies, you might be wondering how Aragorn can be the descendant of Elendil and Isildur and yet he's seemingly a random wanderer far from Gondor.  Wonder no more, because I'm going to explain the history of the other kingdom of the Dunedain: the northern kingdom of Arnor.     Video on the Disaster...

Tolkien eventually did write a full account of how Isildur lost the Ring, but it didn't reach the public until Christopher Tolkien published the Unfinished Tales.  Here's the story.   The Unfinished Tales can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Tales-Lost-Lore-Middle-earth/dp/0345357116   Video on the Kingdom of Arnor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t0zfrkinqc  ...

Tolkien's view of fantasy includes the idea that creating fantasy is an act of "sub-creation," but he also made the idea of sub-creation a powerful theme in The Silmarillion.  This video explores how he used that theme.

In this video I explain the history and significance of Aragorn's ring, the ring of Barahir.

The island of Numenor was a relatively late addition to Tolkien's Middle Earth mythology, but it turned out to be tremendously important.  In this video I get into the basic history of Numenor in Middle Earth, and explain a few interesting facts about it as well.   Most of our information about the island of Numenor comes from the Silmarillion: https://www.amazon.com/Silmarillion-J-R-R-T...

Friends don't let friends watch dumb pop culture site videos about Tolkien, so I'm here to clear things up in case anyone was fooled by the lazy ideas spouted by Grunge.com. For my video on Merry's role in killing the Witch King, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJKnsNlwgNw&t=758s And for more on why the Eagles didn't just fly Frodo to Mount Doom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Et...

The Story of Kullervo provides an interesting look at Tolkien's creative process and some of his source material for the Silmarillion.

We all know Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings, and many of us are familiar with the Silmarillion and perhaps the fact that he was a philologist by profession.  But did you know he wrote several other pieces of fiction?  This video explores one of them, "Smith of Wootton Major," which lies somewhere near the epicenter of Tolkien's work in the sense that it incorporates some of his perso...

"Leaf by Niggle" (aka "Tree and Leaf") is the closest thing Tolkien ever wrote to an autobiography, though it's still very much a fictional short story.  It gives us just a peek inside his personal aspirations and frustrations.

In this video I discuss the theory that Aragorn's choice of a family name, "Telcontar," is intended as way to make Tolkien a part of his own mythology.  I discuss the pros and cons of the theory, but if you think I missed something, chime in with a comment!