Wander Middle-earth with Past Episodes

How an unsuspecting, comfortable hobbit became the host of a party of dwarves and a burglar of a dragon: Today we explore chapter 1 of JRR Tolkien’s classic story: The Hobbit or There and Back Again. Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support the show with a wafer of lembas: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lotrpodcast This podcast is not...

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Tolkien’s simple opening line to his book The Hobbit wasn’t merely the first sentence to a children’s story of adventure, bravery, and dragons: this sentence is the first step in our own adventure of wandering Middle-earth. That unassuming yet provocative line opens us to a much wider world, to the epic struggle of good vs evil, of light overcoming the Shadow. Today we’ll examine the origins of Tolkien’s first published work of fiction, The Hob...

Remastered episode 1: "The Beginning of Middle-earth"! We introduce Tolkien's "The Silmarillion" and examine the creation story for Tolkien's mythology. Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support the show with a wafer of lembas: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lotrpodcast This podcast is not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate. Suppor...

Who understands the Lord of the Rings better? Amazon’s Rings of Power, or the new artificial intelligence called ChatGPT. I asked the AI three questions about Lord of the Rings, and its answers left me speechless. Today, I will explore three questions, giving you the responses from an artificial intelligence, and comparing them with how I assume Rings of Power answered the same questions. Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social me...

I've seen Peter Jackson's LoTR movies nearly three dozen times, but I still notice new details and connections every time I watch them. Join me as I share new insights from the movies as I watch them in my annual Lord of the Rings movie marathon. Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support the show with a wafer of lembas: https://www.b...

I've seen Peter Jackson's LoTR movies nearly three dozen times, but I still notice new details and connections every time I watch them. Join me as I share new insights from the movies as I watch them in my annual Lord of the Rings movie marathon. Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support the show with a wafer of lembas: https://www.b...

The events of the Lord of the Rings book transpire in less than a year. But what a packed year it was; when the events of the First, Second, and nearly all the Third Age culminate in the overthrow of Sauron, the Return of the King, and the journey of a hobbit and his friend to Mt Doom in Mordor. Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Supp...

Today marks 1 year since the Lore of the Rings podcast launched. We dive into how I found Lord of the Rings many years ago, and how this podcast came to be. I share some numbers about our audience, and provide a sneak peak on where the show will go in 2023. Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support the show with a wafer of lembas: ht...

Middle-earth has a detailed and ancient history, with Three Ages of the world each spanning thousands of years. Today we wander through this epic timeline, and I’ll rip into how Amazon’s Rings of Power totally trashed Tolkien’s Timeline. Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support the show with a wafer of lembas: https://www.buymeacoff...

If you’ve seen or read Tolkien’s The Hobbit, then you know that Gandalf convinced Thorin and the dwarves to take Bilbo Baggins, a simple hobbit from the Shire. But you may not know why Gandalf chose Bilbo in the first place, or how Gandalf and Thorin met, or how Gandalf received the map and key that he could pass along to Thorin, and still yet how unlikely the whole story is and how the tale is tangled up in the larger fight against Sauron. Today we explore the tale called “The Quest for Erebor”...

While Peter Jackson’s adaptations reduced dwarves to little more than comic relief, Rings of Power shows dwarves at the height of their power in Khazad-dum. Today we wander the tales of the dwarves, and you may be surprised at their loyalty, passion, and sense of justice. And we’ll wander into a chance meeting between a jilted dwarvish heir and a grumpy, worried wizard. Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts a...

Three takeaways from the new behind-the-scenes footage for Rings of Power season 1. Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support the show with a wafer of lembas: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lotrpodcast This podcast is not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ringspodcast/donations Adv...

A holy hill, a solemn oath, a mysterious tomb; What do these things have in common? Perhaps one of Tolkien’s most beloved themes, in a word, Friendship. Today we dive deep on the oath sworn between Rohan and Gondor, and how it all connects to a faithful Elf-friend of old. We explore the Oath of Cirion and Eorl as told in Unfinished Tales. Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Ri...

The origins of the Kingdom of Rohan, long-time ally of Gondor, keepers of the white horses called the mearas, and befuddled enemies of Saruman. Today we explore their history, which surprisingly has less to do with horses, and plenty to do, with ghosts. We continue our exploration of the Lord of the Rings Appendix A. Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https:...

Middle-earth’s greatest power couple: Aragorn and Arwen. If we stripped away all the battles, all the struggles, all the rings, dwarves, dragons, dark lords, wizards, Nazgul, hobbits, if we stripped all of that away, and we were left with only the tale of Aragorn and Arwen, I argue that we would be left with one of the most compelling and powerful stories of love, adventure, duty, and choices made in hope, despite an oppressive darkness Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast...

We explore the rise and fall of Gondor, the southern kingdom, once ruled by Isildur and Anarion, sons of Elendil. We’ll track the line of kings from beginning to end, explore the Ruling Stewards' attempts to repel Mordor, and a stranger who comes by way of Rohan to lead Gondor’s armies. Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support th...

We all know that Aragorn is Isildur’s heir, but there’s 38 generations and nearly 3000 years between them. What happened during that time? Elrond said that Aragorn was “descended through many fathers from Isildur Elendil’s son . . . He is the Chief of the Dúnedain in the North, and few are now left of that folk” Today we will explore the tales of Aragorn’s forefathers, and why the Dunedain have dwindled from the once mighty kingdom of Numenor to a handful of Rangers in the North. And keep ...

What was the promise that Tolkien made that he wished he could take back? What project was he working on that lead to the delay for the publishing of the final volume of The Lord of the Rings? What part of the book did Tolkien predict many of his readers would “properly” neglect? Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support the show wit...

Three Rings for the Elven Kings, The Stranger’s new adventure, and Halbrand is back in Mordor. We continue our spoiler-rich adventure—exploring the lore behind the finale of Rings of Power season 1! This our third and final lore breakdown for the season 1 finale. Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support the show with a wafer of lemb...

The Stranger banishes the cultists and Sauron twists Galadriel’s mind. We continue our spoiler-rich adventure—exploring the lore behind the finale of Rings of Power season 1! Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support the show with a wafer of lembas: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lotrpodcast This podcast is not affiliated with the T...

Sauron revealed, Halbrand’s healing miracle, three gemstones, and a fool’s hope: today I’m giving a lore breakdown—scene by scene—of Rings of Power season 1 finale! Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support the show with a wafer of lembas: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lotrpodcast This podcast is not affiliated with the Tolkien Est...

Deadly Harfoots, a weeping Elendil, a jarringly humble Galadriel, kneeling Elves, and who is Celeborn—we’ll wander through all this in more in my breakdown of Rings of Power Season 1, Episode 7: The Eye. Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support the show with a wafer of lembas: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lotrpodcast This podcast...

We explore the lore the origins of Orcs, and entertain some possible answers to the riddles of their creation and redemption. Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support the show with a wafer of lembas: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lotrpodcast This podcast is not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate. Support this podcast at — https:/...

We explore the lore from Amazon's Rings of Power Season 1 Episode 6 "Udûn". Water vs fire, speaking Sindarin to horses, translating Black Speech, and Adar's claims about Sauron. Exclusive discounts for you: https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/discounts/ Find contact info, social media links, discounts and more on the Lore of the Rings website: https://www.ringspodcast.com/ Support the show with a wafer of lembas: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lotrpodcast This podcast is not affiliated with th...