Tolkien with Friends

In this episode, we welcome Kali Cosplay as co-host while Ahnna takes a break from podcasting to focus on the cutest addition to her family. Kali and Andie also welcome back Nic (Fornost42 on TikTok and Twitter) to discuss the chapters “The Pyre of Denethor” and “The Tower of Cirith Ungol.” Our conversation includes: Denethor's last words Gandalf having to choose between Faramir and Theoden Sa...

In this episode of Tolkien with Friends, we are joined by Amber – who you probably know as CritiqueGeek on Tiktok and Instagram – to discuss  the chapters “The Ride of the Rohirrim” and “The Battle of the Pelennor Fields." In this episode, we discuss: The Woses or “the Wild Men" of the Drúadan Forest How the movie portrayed parts of  Eowyn's fight with the Witch-king and Theoden's...

This week, we're joined by our good friend  Iiris (aka @HobbitHotTakes on TikTok) to discuss “Shelob’s Lair” and the “Choices of Master Samwise." We also finish up the chapters "The Passing of the Grey Company” and “The Siege of Gondor." In this episode, we cover: How the Army of the Dead look in the book vs. the movie Tolkien's visceral description of Shelob's Lair Sam&#39...

In this episode, we're talking about the chapters " The Stairs of Cirith Ungol" and "The Muster of Rohan" -- with a little bit of "The Passing of the Grey Company" and "The Siege of Gondor." Because of this, we cover almost an hour of the extended edition of Return of the King: from about 54 mins and 42 secs in to about an hour and 50 minutes and 47 seconds. Our...

With Amazon's The Rings of Power less than two weeks away, Andie hopped on a call with Nic (aka @Fornost42 on TikTok) and her husband Josh (@JoshTheComposer) to talk about what we expect to see and what we hope to see on the show. Tune in to this special bonus episode to hear more about: A quick timeline of events for the Second Age Possibilities for Numenor's storyline What Lord of the Ri...

In this week's episode, we were joined by our friend Tim – who you may know as the Bard of Arda on TikTok (formerly @GlamdringFoeHammer). This episode covers the chapters “The Palantir” and “Minas Tirith” – which corresponds to the extended edition of Return of the King starting at about 18 and a half minutes in and ends at about minute 54 or 55. Our discussion includes: Pippin's experienc...

This week, we're starting the extended edition of Return of the King  — even though we are actually still in the Two Towers book. While we’re only covering about 18 minutes of the movie, this actually covers the time period from four chapters: "The Road to Isengard," "Journey to the Cross-roads," "Flotsam and Jetsam" and "The Voice of Saruman." Topics from this...

This past week has been crazy: With San Diego Comic Con came multiple trailers, including full trailers for House of the Dragon and Rings of Power. For this special episode, we are joined by some of our best friends from TikTok to discuss our thoughts on the trailers and what we think we can expect this fall from both of these shows. Thanks again to Kali Cosplay (tiktok.com/@kali__cosplay, Nic Spe...

Welcome to another episode of Tolkien with Friends where we finish up the Two Towers movie but leave several chapters on the table to be explored during Return of the King. This week, we finally get to see what happens in “Helm’s Deep,” plus the chapters “The Window on the West” and “The Forbidden Pool.” Technically, we also see half a second from “The Road to Isengard” and “Journey to the Cross-r...

This week, we’re joined by Andie's good friend Savannah to talk about the chapters of “Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit,” plus 5 seconds of “Treebeard,” some significant changes to the first few pages of “Helm’s Deep,” and some of Arwen and Aragorn’s story from Appendix A! This corresponds to t he extended edition of Two Towers between 1 hr 34 min in until about 2 hrs and 13 minutes-ish in. In this...

This week, we’re covering “The King of the Golden Hall” and “The Black Gate is Closed,” which corresponds to about 36 minutes of the extended edition of the Two Towers film, starting at 58 minutes and 11 seconds to about 1 hour and 34 minutes. In this episode, we discuss: Treebeard's nod to Tom Bombadil in the movie Our dislike for Gríma Wormtongue How Theoden's transformation is different...

In this episode, we are joined by KnewBettaDoBetta to talk about the chapters "Treebeard," "The White Rider" and "The Passage of the Marshes." Topics this week include: Who is Sauron really? How Gandalf escapes from the Misty Mountains after killing the balrog How Gollum's knowledge and fear of Mordor ultimately helps the hobbits What are the Dead Marshes? For even more...

This week, we’re covering the first 36 minutes and 23 seconds of the extended edition of Two Towers. This roughly – and I mean ROUGHLY – corresponds to the chapters the Riders of Rohan, the Uruk-hai and the Taming of Smeagol. In this episode, we discuss: Parallels between Frodo and Aragorn How the introduction of Gollum changes the dynamic between Frodo and Sam in the movies Why Gimli is actually...

In this episode, we wrap up the Fellowship of the Ring by covering the chapters "The Great River," "The Breaking of the Fellowship," and "The Departure of Boromir." We also discuss the latest House of the Dragon teaser trailer and any future Comic Con plans. Topics this week include: Our hopes for future Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones merchandise Aragorn's desire...

This week, we were joined by our friend Iiris (also known as @hobbithottakes on TikTok) as the Fellowship stops in Lothlorien for a little break. In this episode, we cover “Lothlorien” and go all the way through “Farewell to Lorien.” In the extended edition, this is starting at about 2 hours and 28 minutes in until 2 hours and 53 minutes into Fellowship of the Ring. Our discussion includes: The re...

In this week's episode, we are joined by our friend Sarah, who you may know as SEHolmes25 on TikTok. Together we tackle the chapters "The Ring Goes South," "A Journey in the Dark" and "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm" (aka starting at an hour and 43 minutes into the Extended Edition of Fellowship and ending at about 2 hours and 28 minutes). We cover:  How Merry and Pippin were...

In this episode, Ahnna and Andie cover the chapters Many Meetings and the Council of Elrond – which corresponds to about twenty minutes into the movie, starting at one hour and 24 minutes. In these chapters, we see Frodo healing in Rivendell, are reunited with Bilbo, hear some more songs, and then meet with Elrond’s council to decide what they’re going to do about the Ring. We also discuss: The re...

This week, special guest Kali Cosplay (@kali__cosplay on TikTok / @kali.cosplay on Instagram) joins us to talk about “A Knife in the Dark” and “Flight to the Ford” – which corresponds to approximately one hour and three minutes into the film until about an hour and 24 minutes in (if you’re watching the extended edition).We discuss everything from Kali's introduction to Tolkien, how the Nazgul...

Join us this week as we tramp through the Old Forest, meet Tom Bombadil, and finally make it to the Prancing Pony. We also welcome our friend Emily, known as @silmaremily on Twitter and TikTok, as we discuss social media and its effect on media literacy, the decision to cut Tom Bombadil from the films, Aragorn's character, and a whole lot more!

This week, we are covering the chapters “A Short Cut to Mushrooms” and “A Conspiracy Unmasked” and less than 10 minutes of the film (between minutes 46 and 57 of the extended edition of Fellowship). We discuss the fight between Gandalf and Saruman, Farmer Maggot and Tolkien's songs, and Andie's hope for a Witch-king of Angmar spin-off after Amazon's Rings of Power.

In this week's episode, we cover the chapters "The Shadow of the Past" and "Three is Company", which roughly correspond with minutes 32 to 46 of the extended edition of Fellowship of the Ring. Our conversation kicks off with a discussion of the purpose of fantasy, which leads us to our discussion of Gandalf, Gollum and empathy, and how Lord of the Rings applies to today.

In this episode, we cover the prologue of Fellowship of the Ring and its first chapter, "A Long-expected Party." In the Fellowship of the Ring film, this equates to roughly the first 32 minutes of the extended edition. We cover everything from the Second Age to the different types of Hobbits to Bilbo's birthday party, so buckle up because this episode is a little unhinged!

We kick off the first episode of Tolkien with Friends by discussing the many ways adaptations have shaped how we see and interact with our respective fandoms, including Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. Topics include: Why we started the podcast How we were introduced to Tolkien's works The ways in which adaptations may affect our thoughts around our favorite fandoms A few thoughts on Ama...