The Tolkien Professor

Dave and guest listener Karen offer up a first hand view of the Comic-Con experience. Then Corey launches into a two-minute-per-second analysis of the teaser trailer for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

Corey and Trish put the "fun" into "funeral" in this installment of Riddles in the Dark, while Dave is off running around San Diego Comic-Con.

Corey and Trish (standing in for Laura) share great listener observations about the Battle of Dol Guldur (RITD Episodes 3.09 and 3.10)

Who's gonna die? That's the big question in this episode of Riddles in the Dark, as The Tolkien Professor and fellow co-hosts ponder the imponderables of Peter Jackson's third Hobbit movie. Also, from about minute 18 to about minute 43, there is a general discussion about fantasy genre, specifically comparing Tolkien to George R.R. Martin and similar authors.

In response to a listener query, Corey walks through Tolkien's language pronunciation and how the names in The Hobbit films are supposed to be pronounced.

Corey and Trish (standing in for Laura) go over all the riddles covering the Siege (RITD Episodes 3.06, 3.07 and 3.08)

Why will the Elves march to Erebor? Will Bilbo be conscious for the battle? Does Roac constitute one of the armies? These and other pressing questions are considered in this installment of Riddles in the Dark

What is Sauron up to? Where are all those Orcs going anyway? And what's going on with the Nazgul? We don't have the answers, but we have LOTS of theories.

In a Daveless episode, Trish and Corey consider what will be happening at Dol Guldur in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, with excursions into unrelated topics

The third episode of the Riddles in the Dark Supererogatory. The Tolkien Professor addresses your comments and questions on RITD 3.04 and RITD 3.05.

Moving right along toward the Battle of (the) Five Armies, Tolkien Professor Corey Olsen and his Riddles in the Dark co-hosts actually talk about....wait for it....THE HOBBIT!!!

Our hosts were very talkative in this episode, starting with a rant about the new name for Hobbit Movie 3, then moving on to considering how the Siege of Erebor might look from the Laketown side of the table. And Corey got to use "abscond" in a sentence, which pleased him no end.

The second episode of the Riddles in the Dark Supererogatory. The Tolkien Professor addresses your comments and questions on RITD 3.02 and RITD 3.03. Afterwards, Corey speaks with Professor Robin Reid about her research on Tolkien's influence on modern culture.

Corey extols the virtues of Roac, Trish attempts to be a human sound effects machine, and Dave holds it all together as the talk centers on what the Dwarves are up to before the Men and Elves arrive in The Hobbit: There and Back Again.

How epic will the attack of the dragon on Laketown be? Will there be any red shirts among the cast? And what about that oily Master? Inquiring minds examine these and other questions about The Hobbit: There and Back Again.

The first episode of the Riddles in the Dark Supererogatory. The Tolkien Professor addresses your comments and questions on RITD 3.01

What's going on in Laketown while the Dwarves are zigging and zagging around Erebor with a dragon in close pursuit? We theorize about this and other matters, and this time there are sound effects!

Saddle up the battle pigs! The RITD team go from serious to silly and back again as they consider the many ways that Peter Jackson could choose to begin the third Hobbit movie.

Talking Elves in the second episode of the third year of Riddles in the Dark.

The first riddle episode of the last year of Riddles in the Dark considers how action and violence impact the first two Hobbit movies and how these aspects will show up in The Hobbit: There and Back Again.

The thirty-fifth session of the Silmarillion Seminar, covering Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, Part 2

The second installment of Phase 1 of Year 3 of Riddles in the Dark team sees us revisiting The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug one last time. Three key themes are considered in the context of how they will follow through into The Hobbit: There and Back Again: 1) Dark versus Light; 2) Tauriel and Legolas and how they represent the Elvish portion of the story; and 3) Return of the King, Erebor style.

The Riddles in the Dark team returns for the third and final round of the "how will Jackson tell the story" game. Phase 1, Episode a is a general look back at The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. Corey and Dave coin new terms to describe various ways people have reacted to the films of the trilogy so far, while Trish cracks the whip to keep things on track.

Part 2: Professor Olsen discusses his reactions to the second Hobbit movie, The Desolation of Smaug

Part 1: Professor Olsen discusses his reactions to the second Hobbit movie, The Desolation of Smaug