The Tolkien Lore Podcast

Time compression really starts to show itself as we continue John Boorman’s terrible script for adapting The Lord of the Rings, with huge chunks of the story missing. First video in this series is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhKX7VdMiZU Second part is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbxZU3mVRsc Other Links: Utreon: https://utreon.com/c/TolkienLorePodcast/ Rumble at https://rumble.c...

We’re now half way through season 1 of Rings of Power, and while this episode wasn’t as bad as episode 3, it had some cringe-worthy moments and not much of anything great.  Not to mention nothing seems to be progressing the plot.  But hey, no Harfoots, so that’s a plus! Episodes 1&2 review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3bJTDxHRY0 Episode 3 review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...

There has been a lot of criticism directed at Amazon for making Galadriel a warrior when that role should have been filled by Elrond.  But how accurate is it to say that Elrond was a great warrior while Galadriel was not?  The evidence may surprise you. Other Links: Utreon: https://utreon.com/c/TolkienLorePodcast/ Rumble at https://rumble.com/c/c-355195 Odysee: https://odysee.com/@Tolkie...

Episode 3 of The Rings of Power introduces us to Numenor and more plot lines, leaves out Elrond altogether, still gives us no progress with the Harfoots, and fails to improve on many of the issues I noted in the first two episodes.  But to make matters worse, writing inconsistencies have multiplied to the point of being a serious annoyance. Other Links: Utreon: https://utreon.com/c/TolkienLor...

Picking up where we left off after the Council of Elrond, we follow the Fellowship’s strange journey to and through Moria and then to meet Galadriel in the worst possible way. First video in this series is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhKX7VdMiZU Other Links: Utreon: https://utreon.com/c/TolkienLorePodcast/ Rumble at https://rumble.com/c/c-355195 Odysee: https://odysee.com/@TolkienLore:f...

I went to the fan screening of the Rings of Power's first episode, and now I can share my thoughts with all of you.    Other Links:   Utreon: https://utreon.com/c/TolkienLorePodcast/   Rumble at https://rumble.com/c/c-355195    Odysee: https://odysee.com/@TolkienLore:f    Twitter: https://twitter.com/jrrtlore    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tol...

I’m about to see the first two episodes of Rings of Power in theaters as part of Amazon’s fan screening event, so I thought I would drop some of my thoughts to see how the show measures up afterwards.  Time will tell…. Other Links: Utreon: https://utreon.com/c/TolkienLorePodcast/ Rumble at https://rumble.com/c/c-355195 Odysee: https://odysee.com/@TolkienLore:f Twitter: https://twitter.com/jrr...

Tony Meade (follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonymeade ) is a major contributor to Corey Olsen’s Exploring The Lord of the Rings series and has given several talks on the subject of Tolkien, and today I have him on to discuss why Tolkien, who is best known for a fantasy novel, is much more important than you might think. Other Links: Rumble at https://rumble.com/c/c-355195 Odysee: https:...

If you like puzzles, especially escape room type puzzles, you might like the recently released Shadows Over Middle-earth edition of Kosmos' Exit: The Game series, but don't expect strict adherence to canon!  In this video I give an overview of the game and my final score--see if you can beat me! Other Links: Utreon: https://utreon.com/c/TolkienLorePodcast/ Rumble at https://rumble.com/c/c-355...

David Rowe, author of The Proverbs of Middle-Earth, joins me to talk about how Tolkien teaches us lessons in wisdom through his fiction. Follow David Rowe on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mrdavidrowe, or his Tolkien Proverbs account at https://twitter.com/tolkienproverbs Other Links: Rumble at https://rumble.com/c/c-355195 Odysee: https://odysee.com/@TolkienLore:f Twitter: https://twitter.com/jrr...

One of the members of my new Discord server (see invite link below) shared with me what may be the worst denigration of Tolkien’s magnum opus ever to nearly reach a wide audience.  John Boorman (famous for directing Excalibur) got a script together for a movie adaptation of The Lord of the Rings which is so terrible and so lore-breaking that I have to address it in multiple videos!  This...

In part three of my series(previous videos here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZLce_96994 and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2kNO7Uy-QU ) with GirlNextGondor ( https://www.youtube.com/c/GirlNextGondor ) on the critics of The Lord of the Rings (and Tolkien more broadly), we cover accusations that his work is sexist and racist.  Once again, we find that many of the criticisms lack nu...

Amazon finally released a full trailer for their Rings of Power show at Comic-Con, but what does it tell us about the show?  What can we expect?  Does it look like it will stick to the lore?  There are some good signs but also some not so good ones…. Other Links: Rumble at https://rumble.com/c/c-355195 Odysee: https://odysee.com/@TolkienLore:f Twitter: https://twitter.com/jrrtlore P...

Tolkien’s heroes engage in discussions involving moral quandaries with some frequency, showing that they are careful thinkers.  Peter Jackson’s versions of the same characters...not so much, and the problems go deeper than just skimping the dialogue to save screen time. For my prior video on the various law vs. morality episodes, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ggh4oAdiXM Other L...

One of my biggest concerns prior to The Hobbit being released as a movie trilogy was how to go from the epic, adult level of The Lord of the Rings to the child-oriented whimsy of The Hobbit, and while Peter Jackson made some moves in the right direction, I think there’s a better way he could have gone about it. Other Links: Rumble at https://rumble.com/c/c-355195 Odysee: https://odysee.com/@Tolkie...

My video on why Sauron couldn’t recover his Ring after being defeated in the War of the Last Alliance ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKzuKSus8FI ) generated several comments about the Nazgul and the Nine Rings that show many people have what I think is a mistaken view of how those Rings work, but which also raise some additional questions worth addressing, so let’s dive into some Ring lore! Apo...

Following up my video on the soft retcon of Isildur (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYvQdTzfk44), I now address the question of what would have happened to Isildur and the Ring had he survived the Disaster of the Gladden Fields and managed to hold on to the Ring.  Would he have given the Ring to the Wise as planned, or would he have succumbed to corruption and become the new Ring Lord? For a diff...

The Lord of the Rings gives us relatively little back story on Isildur, and what little we learn makes him look somewhat prideful and corruptible.  But when Tolkien expanded on his story in later writings he began to look a lot more like a tragic hero.   For Robert’s (InDeepGeek) video on Isildur and a slightly different take, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSErz...   For...

In a letter, Tolkien says that Sauron had his Ring in Numenor, which seems to contradict The Silmarillion.  But if he did, how did he get it back to Middle-earth when Numenor was drowned and his body destroyed?  And if he didn’t need a body to carry it, how was Isildur able to claim it from his corpse after the War of the Last Alliance? For my video on who really killed Sauron, click her...

I’ve noticed that many people, when trying to justify their opinions about Tolkien’s works, resort to his statement about preferring “applicability,” which lies in the freedom of the individual reader, to allegory, which is the purposed domination of the author.  But does Tolkien’s statement really give us freewheeling license to interpret his work however we want? For my video on authorial i...

Just a quick update on some new things I’ll be doing and how I’m updating my Patreon benefits. Other Links: Rumble at https://rumble.com/c/c-355195 Odysee: https://odysee.com/@TolkienLore:f Twitter: https://twitter.com/jrrtlore Patreon: www.patreon.com/tolkiengeek

We often take for granted that Sauron’s Ring is a magical item of great power, but can just anyone use it?  What could it be used for?  These are questions I will address with varying degrees of certainty in this video. Other Links: Rumble at https://rumble.com/c/c-355195 Odysee: https://odysee.com/@TolkienLore:f Twitter: https://twitter.com/jrrtlore Patreon: www.patreon.com/tolkiengeek

Recently, GirlNextGondor (https://www.youtube.com/c/GirlNextGondor) had TheRedBook (https://www.youtube.com/c/TheRedBook) on (video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UPCU25TaV0) to discuss Morgoth, and in the process sparked a seemingly crazy thought in my own head that in a weird way, Sauron is parallel to Manwe via his relationship to Melkor--let me explain. Other Links: Rumble at https://rumble...

At the Council of Elrond, Glorfindel suggests taking the Ring over the Sea as an option, but this gets shot down pretty quickly and with good reason. Other Links: Rumble at https://rumble.com/c/c-355195 Odysee: https://odysee.com/@TolkienLore:f Twitter: https://twitter.com/jrrtlore Patreon: www.patreon.com/tolkiengeek

It might seem strange that two beings of the same created "order" would have extremely different power levels, but there are at least four reasons why one Maia (Sauron) might be more powerful than another (say, Gandalf). For more on the "Morgoth's Ring" concept, check out The Red Book's great video on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eVGGmVMpc8 He also has his own video on essentially...