The Last Homely House

Our Middle-Earth Madness Tournament begins! We start out with the bottom left region of the bracket: Book 4 of the Lord of the Rings versus the Silmarillion. What do you think of our picks? Who did you have moving on?

We're continuing our look at what gets handed down in Middle-Earth, moving from the short-folk to the big-folk! What are some of the things that get handed down by Men? Join us as we discuss power, household heirlooms, and inherited friendship.

We're starting a new season and a new series, looking at all things "handed down." How do heirlooms, heritage, inheritance (and the like) play into Tolkien's world (and specifically into his stories)? We start out this week looking at the Hobbits and all of the things Bilbo hands down to Frodo (his home, his ring, his adventuring gear, and also his 'Tookish' adventuring spirit).

Because we can't leave well-enough alone, we dive a little deeper into the alleged connection between Sauron and Bombadil (suggested by their poetic style). We speculate together and offer explanations that range from plausible to ridiculous. How would you explain the similarities?

With all of our hosts back together, we take one (final?) swing at the collection of Tolkien's poetry. This time we look at their selections from the Lord of the Rings. Which were our favorites? Do we think they did a good job choosing a representative collection? Also...why do Sauron and Bombadil write poetry the same way!?

Since Jasmine was out of town for last week's episde, we return to Volume 3 of Tolkien's collected poetry and talk about a few more of our first favorites. Tragedy written in bouncy couplets. A slow and terrifying dragon. And a purposely unfinished work by...Arwen?

Jon and Ron dive in and share some of their "first favorites" from the third volume of Tolkien's Collected Poetry. We talk nostalgia, Germanic sagas, and limmericks. (Basically, we're all over the place when Jasmine isn't here!)

We cracked open the box a bit last week talking about portrayals of Aragorn and Arwen's romance in the upcoming Hunt for Gollum. This week, our hosts go back to the source material to discuss their relationship, how it is portrayed in Jackson's films, and how it might be brought into the new film well.

We're just over a year away from more Tolkien on the big screen, with The Hunt for Gollum expected to hit theaters in late 2027. And, while there's not a lot of official news yet, there have been rumors floating around concerning who will (and won't) be returning to reprise some beloved characters. Join our hosts as we engage in one of our favorite passtimes: SPECULATION!

25 years after its original release, Jon and Jasmine finally got the chance to see it in the theater (Jon also got to watch Two Towers and Return of the King). We chat about our experience seeing these masterpieces on the silver screen. Did any else get the chance to see the anniversary screenings?

Our hosts chat about a new book, Tom Racine's "Doomed to Die: An A-to-Z of Death in Tolkein" and then discuss Tolkien's own assertion that all human stories are about one thing...the inevitability of death.

One episode in volume 2 was not enough! We needed a few more minutes to talk about some of the great stuff we found in the second part of the new poetry collection.

After taking a few weeks away from Tolkien's Collected Poetry, our hosts return to the collection and share some of their favorites from Volume 2.

Join our hosts and they think back over the last year of podcasting and look forward to a new year full of fun new discussions to be had! What were your favorite episodes this year? What would you like to hear us talk about next?

Have you ever wondered which Middle-Earth location corresponds to which modern Holiday? Have you ever thought about how New Years Day might be celebrated around Middle-Earth? No? Well, you're about to!! Join us for our unhinged end-of-the-year special!