VoK 52: LOTR ReRead (Part 2) – The Fellowship of the Ring

Join our doughty Fellowship of Podcasters as they level up and discuss Tolkien’s high fantasy novel at almost as slow a pace as Frodo’s quest to destroy the Ring.

In this second episode, Teddard, Nadia, Shellfish and Bina007 discuss the events of Book Two of The Fellowship of The Ring: The Journey of the Nine Companions / The Ring Goes South.

Beware of Spoilers: This podcast discusses Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and the Silmarillion in detail.

02:00 Nadia leads a discussion on Books 1-2, Many Meetings and The Council of Elrond, in which we debate whether:

The Elf Bard is the “asshole of the year”
Sauron shows his hand in sending an emissary to the dwarves
Gandalf sends Balin into Moria for no reason at all

47:45 Shellfish leads a discussion on Books 3-6: The Ring Goes South, A Journey In the Dark, and The Bridge of Khazad-Dum, in which we discuss

Which fantasy sword has the coolest name
Whether Legolas is a jerk (Shellfish has a beef with Elves)
Frodo’s hobby of “getting stabbed by new and exotic things”
Whether the Balrog has wings

1:13:55 Teddard leads a discussion on Books 7-8: Lothlorien and the Mirror of Galadriel:

“there seems to be this bird called Galadriel, and she seems to be quite important”
Is Sauron drawing Frodo toward the Mirror of Galadriel?
Is Nadia the Samwise Gamgee of Vassals of Kingsgrave?

1:23:00 Bina007 leads a discussion on Books 9-10: The Great River & The Breaking of the Fellowship in which we discuss:

Tolkien clearly not caring as much about food as George R R Martin
Yet more Legolas hate from Shellfish
And accusations that Elrond is basically incompetent in how he sets up the Fellowship!
The nature of Boromir’s corruption.

1:40:00 Closing thoughts on Book Two and a special song for Shellfish.

Credits:
Edited by Bina007 using music from the Brobdingnangian Bards’ album Memories of Middle Earth.

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Links:
Tom Shippey’s book Tolkien: The Author Of The Century