Tea with Tolkien

Episode Notes: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/blog/fon-10If you’d like to join in on the discussion, you can sign up for our book club at www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club to receive the link to our discord server. If you’d like to support Tea with Tolkien by becoming a patron, you can learn more at www.patreon.com/teawithtolkien

Episode Notes: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/blog/fon-9If you’d like to join in on the discussion, you can sign up for our book club at www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club to receive the link to our discord server. If you’d like to support Tea with Tolkien by becoming a patron, you can learn more at www.patreon.com/teawithtolkien

Episode Notes: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/blog/fon-8If you’d like to join in on the discussion, you can sign up for our book club at www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club to receive the link to our discord server. If you’d like to support Tea with Tolkien by becoming a patron, you can learn more at www.patreon.com/teawithtolkien

Episode Notes: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/blog/fon-7If you’d like to join in on the discussion, you can sign up for our book club at www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club to receive the link to our discord server. If you’d like to support Tea with Tolkien by becoming a patron, you can learn more at www.patreon.com/teawithtolkien

To Hello, my friends! I’m so happy to share this recording of our live Q&A that was hosted in our discord yesterday. Dr. Holly Ordway was gracious enough to join us to chat all about her latest book, Tolkien’s Faith: A Spiritual Biography. As a brief aside, I’m sorry my voice sounds a bit rough in this interview - I’m recovering from a pretty nasty illness, but I couldn’t miss this Q&A. I hope you enjoy it! To join our discord, you can sign up with your email address at teawithtolkien.com/discord.Dr. Ordway’s Website: https://hollyordway.com/Order Tolkien’s Faith on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3qtie3mDr. Ordway Interview with Michael Ward: https://www.wordonfire.org/videos/tolkiens-faith-dr-michael-ward-interviews-holly-ordway/ Tea with Tolkien Website: www.teawithtolkien.com Tea with Tolkien Discord: www.teawithtolkien.com/discord

Episode Notes: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/blog/fon-6 If you’d like to join in on the discussion, you can sign up for our book club at www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club to receive the link to our discord server. If you’d like to support Tea with Tolkien by becoming a patron, you can learn more at www.patreon.com/teawithtolkien

Episode Notes: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/blog/fon-5 If you’d like to join in on the discussion, you can sign up for our book club at www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club to receive the link to our discord server. If you’d like to support Tea with Tolkien by becoming a patron, you can learn more at www.patreon.com/teawithtolkien

Hello and welcome to Tea with Tolkien, an online community for the Hobbit at Heart. We are inspired by the works, life, and Catholic faith of JRR Tolkien and strive to encourage others towards a deeper love and understanding of Tolkien’s Legendarium by hosting a free book club, providing free resources such as our Silmarillion Reader’s guide, and cultivating a vibrant and positive online community. Our book club is currently reading through this newly released book, The Fall of Númenor, edited by Brian Sibley. If you’d like to join in on the discussion, you can sign up for our book club at www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club to receive the link to our discord server. If you’d like to support Tea with Tolkien by becoming a patron, you can learn more at www.patreon.com/teawithtolkien

Hello and welcome to Tea with Tolkien, an online community for the Hobbit at Heart. We are inspired by the works, life, and Catholic faith of JRR Tolkien and strive to encourage others towards a deeper love and understanding of Tolkien’s Legendarium by hosting a free book club, providing free resources such as our Silmarillion Reader’s guide, and cultivating a vibrant and positive online community. Our book club is currently reading through this newly released book, The Fall of Númenor, edited by Brian Sibley. If you’d like to join in on the discussion, you can sign up for our book club at www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club to receive the link to our discord server. If you’d like to support Tea with Tolkien by becoming a patron, you can learn more at www.patreon.com/teawithtolkien NEXT Session: Aldarion and Erendis, part one: “Aldarion and Erendis pg. 66 - 82” Resources: Part Three Blog Post: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/blog/fon-3 Digital Tolkien: https://digitaltolkien.com/ Tolkien Gateway Page on Vardamir: https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Vardamir Gideon’s Timeline: https://gideonslife.com/tolkien/secondage LOTR Project: http://lotrproject.com/

Hello and welcome to Tea with Tolkien, an online community for the Hobbit at Heart. We are inspired by the works, life, and Catholic faith of JRR Tolkien and strive to encourage others towards a deeper love and understanding of Tolkien’s Legendarium by hosting a free book club, providing free resources such as our Silmarillion Reader’s guide, and cultivating a vibrant and positive online community. Our book club is currently reading through this newly released book, The Fall of Númenor, edited by Brian Sibley. If you’d like to join in on the discussion, you can sign up for our book club at www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club to receive the link to our discord server. For the sake of our book club, I’ve broken down The Fall of Numenor into ten sections and so today we’ll be covering the second ‘section’: Foundation of the Grey Havens through The Life of the Númenóreans (pg. 1- 42). I’ll begin with a summary of each section, followed by a recap of our book club’s discussion for those who may have missed our live chat. Resources:Tea with Tolkien Section Two Notes: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/blog/fon-2 Join our Book Club: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club Dancing Bears of Numenor Artwork by MGCoco-Art: https://twitter.com/mgcoco_art/status/1432839127641178118 The Complete Guide to Middle-earth by Robert Foster: https://amzn.to/3XP0kmv The Complete Tolkien Companion by J.E.A. Taylor: https://amzn.to/3D4Omxa The Atlas of Middle-earth: https://amzn.to/3D86y96 The Nature of Middle-earth: https://amzn.to/3Hrk0Y8 Encyclopedia of Arda: https://www.glyphweb.com/arda/a/anadune.html Tea with Tolkien Silmarillion Guide: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/shop Tweet Discussing Numenorean Height: https://twitter.com/TeawithTolkien/status/16201425614228971

Hello and welcome to Tea with Tolkien, an online community for the Hobbit at Heart. We are inspired by the works, life, and Catholic faith of JRR Tolkien and strive to encourage others towards a deeper love and understanding of Tolkien’s Legendarium by hosting a free book club, providing free resources such as our Silmarillion Reader’s guide, and cultivating a vibrant and positive online community. Our book club is currently reading through this newly released book, The Fall of Númenor, edited by Brian Sibley. This book was released last November, so just a few months ago at the time of recording, and our community voted and chose to read this for our first book club of 2023. If you’d like to join in on the discussion, you can sign up for our book club at www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club to receive the link to our discord server. For the sake of our book club, I’ve broken down The Fall of Numenor into ten sections and so today we’ll be covering the first ‘section’: from “About this Book” through “Before the Second Age”. I’ll begin with a summary of each section, followed by a recap of our book club’s discussion for those who may have missed our live chat. This week we are covering Part One: Introduction: “About this Book” through “Before the Second Age” Resources: The Complete Guide to Middle-earth by Robert Foster: https://amzn.to/3XP0kmv The Complete Tolkien Companion by J.E.A. Taylor: https://amzn.to/3D4Omxa The Atlas of Middle-earth: https://amzn.to/3D86y96 The Nature of Middle-earth: https://amzn.to/3Hrk0Y8 Nerd of the Rings for Lore Videos (Youtube): https://www.youtube.com/c/NerdoftheRings Tea with Tolkien Silmarillion Guide: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/shop/silmarillion-readers-guide https://mythgard.org/academy/book-of-lost-tales-part-1/ https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Athrabeth_Finrod_ah_Andreth https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Host_of_the_Valar https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/The_Notion_Club_Papers https://www.teawithtolkien.com/blog/Letter131 https://www.amazon.com/Toward-Gleam-T-M-Doran-ebook/dp/B004UC7K4S

Book Six of The Lord of the Rings begins with Sam’s desperate search to rescue Frodo from the Orc tower. As he begins to lose all hope, he realizes Frodo is being kept in a secret tower above and quickly climbs up to find him. Reunited, Sam returns the Ring to Frodo and they flee towards Mount Doom.

Book IV of The Lord of the Rings follows Frodo and Sam as they slowly journey towards the Land of Mordor. After leaving the Fellowship behind, they become lost as they wander through the wilderness. Gollum has been pursuing them at length, and finally comes to them as they wander. Rather than hiding or attacking, they take him in as their guide. Gollum guides them eagerly through the Dead Marshes and to the Black Gate, however they soon realize they will need to enter Mordor through a different path. Gollum tells them of a different, secret path which will lead them through a tunnel…

Mentioned in this Episode:Tea with Tolkien Book ClubTolkien Reading DayChrist and Tolkien ConferenceSilmarillion Reader’s GuideLOTRonPrime Update PageHobbit Party PageFree Resource LibraryTea with Tolkien Patreon

Book IV of The Lord of the Rings follows Frodo and Sam as they slowly journey towards the Land of Mordor. After leaving the Fellowship behind, they become lost as they wander through the wilderness. Gollum has been pursuing them at length, and finally comes to them as they wander. Rather than hiding or attacking, they take him in as their guide. Gollum guides them eagerly through the Dead Marshes and to the Black Gate, however they soon realize they will need to enter Mordor through a different path. Gollum tells them of a different, secret path which will lead them through a tunnel…

Book Three of The Lord of the Rings brings about many changes for the members of the now-broken Fellowship. A lot of this book feels like atonement for past mistakes -- for Boromir, he has paid with his life; for Aragorn, he seems desperate to discern the correct path forward; for Theoden, he has finally been freed from Grima’s influence; for Saruman, the Ents have brought about his well-deserved destruction. And Gandalf has returned against all hope!

: In this book, we see the formation and departure of the Fellowship of the Ring. Finally, the quest has fully begun. While Frodo is willing to take the burden of the Ring onto himself, he acknowledges that he doesn’t even know where to begin in terms of getting it to Mordor. And Elrond understands that he cannot go alone. However, he doesn’t send him forth with a host of great warriors -- rather he sends him in a small group meant to represent all the peoples of Middle-Earth, a group formed largely around friendship! So we see the theme of Fellowship carrying through into Book II. The life-saving, life-giving virtue of friendship…

You're listening to Tea with Tolkien, a Podcast for the Hobbit at Heart.Join us as we chat about the works and faith of J.R.R. Tolkien, and strive to carry a little piece of Middle-Earth into our own daily lives.This is the first in a seven-part book club series on The Lord of the Rings. These episodes will be released on the first of each month from now through March to accompany our Book Club as we’re reading The Lord of the Rings! If you’d like to join our book club, you can visit www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club. This episode is a quick summary of The Lord of the Rings Book I, meant to spark a conversation about the book in our Discord server!Join us anytime throughout the month on our text channel, or on the voice channel on:September 11 1-2PM ESTSeptember 25 1-2PM EST

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm20My full chapter notes can be read here:

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm19My full chapter notes can be read here: Guide to The Silmarillion: Akallabêth: The Downfall of Númenor

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm18My full chapter notes can be read here: Guide to The Silmarillion: Akallabêth: The Downfall of Númenor

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm17My full chapter notes can be read here: Guide to The Silmarillion: Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath (Ch. 24)

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm16My full chapter notes can be read here: Guide to The Silmarillion: Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin (Ch. 23)

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm15

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm14

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm13

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm12

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/trd2021Recommended Blog Posts:How We‘re Celebrating Tolkien Reading Day 2020Why March 25th Might Be The Most Important Date of all HistoryWhy Middle-Earth Matters: 11 Reasons You Should Be Reading TolkienBeyond The Lord of the Rings: Getting to Know Tolkien through his Shorter WorksReading The Lord of the Rings: Resources & Recommendations

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm10

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm10

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm9

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm8

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm7

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm6

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm5

This book club will run through the end of May and then we’ll begin a new book club in the fall. If you have any suggestions for our fall book club, keeping in mind that it should be something written by Tolkien or at least someone Tolkien-adjacent, you can find me on instagram or twitter @teawithtolkien. If you’d like to sign up, you can do so here. For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm4

If you’re following along with our Tea with Tolkien book club, this is week two of our The Silmarillion read-along! We are only on week two out of twenty, and we haven’t covered too much ground already so if you’d like to jump in there’s still time! This book club will run through the end of May and then we’ll begin a new book club in the fall. If you have any suggestions for our fall book club, keeping in mind that it should be something written by Tolkien or at least someone Tolkien-adjacent, you can find me on instagram or twitter @teawithtolkien. If you’d like to sign up, you can do so here. For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm3

If you’re following along with our Tea with Tolkien book club, this is week two of our The Silmarillion read-along! We are only on week two out of twenty, and we haven’t covered too much ground already so if you’d like to jump in there’s still time! This book club will run through the end of May and then we’ll begin a new book club in the fall. If you have any suggestions for our fall book club, keeping in mind that it should be something written by Tolkien or at least someone Tolkien-adjacent, you can find me on instagram or twitter @teawithtolkien. If you’d like to sign up, you can do so here. So this week we’re discussing the first part of The Silmarillion, "Ainulindalë: The Music of the Ainur" as well as Valaquenta. These two chapters are separate from the Quenta Silmarillion, or the Silmarillion proper as it’s often referred, which we are beginning next week. For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm2

If you’re following along with our Tea with Tolkien book club, this week we are beginning with our The Silmarillion read-along! If you’d like to sign up, you can do so here. Before we dive into the The Silmarillion next week, I thought it would be helpful to spend a bit of time reading and discussing The Waldman Letter. The Waldman letter is a letter written to Milton Waldman, an editor and advisor to publishers in London, who had expressed and interest in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion after the widespread success of The Hobbit. For context, The Hobbit was published in 1937, this letter was written in 1951, and The Fellowship of the Ring would not be published until 1954. Tolkien had hoped to published LOTR and The Silmarillion together and this letter reflects his belief that the two were interdependent. The letter can be read in a few places:In part, on the Tolkien Estate Website (there is a large chunk missing in the middle in which Tolkien writes about the creation of his world and its history through the Second Age)The Letters of JRR Tolkien, Letter 131In the preface to The Silmarillion (second edition only)This letter is important because it pieces together all of Tolkien’s stories concerning Middle-Earth, showing how they are all a part of the same great tale. What’s in the Waldman Letter?“My dear Milton, You asked for a brief sketch of my stuff that is connected with my imaginary world…”Tolkien writes that he can’t remember when he wasn’t building his imaginary world or its languages, noting that almost all the names in his world are derived from these languages. This gives his works a specific kind of consistency which others may not have. Tolkien has always been passionate about myth, desiring a myth that could be uniquely English.Tolkien addresses that three major themes of his works are Fall, Mortality, and Machine.He then goes on to write about the Magic of the Elves as Art versus the enemy’s

So if you’re listening to this right now in the Long Lent of 2020, we are currently in the midst of a pandemic due to the coronavirus! I hope if you’re listening at some point in the future that things have settled down and everything is just fine and we’ve put this whole thing far, far behind us…But right now, we’re all struggling. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been affected by this.On top of worrying about the actual virus, many of us are also experiencing a sudden loss of income, a dramatic change in our daily routine, some of you I know have been alone in your apartment for weeks and are having a difficult time adjusting to simply being alone all the time. You need a hug. I hope this can be like a virtual hug in whatever way that’s possible.Healthcare workers like my husband and many of our friends are working extra hours under higher stress, and many others are navigating working from home… It’s just all around very stressful for everyone in a lot of different ways.I wanted to share this episode with our current situation in mind but I think it will be useful for any time you find yourself having to stay at home for long periods of time, or honestly whenever you need a little encouragement or inspiration to be a bit more Hobbity.I also wanted to say that staying home, social distancing, self-quarantine… whatever you call it… would naturally be very difficult for Hobbits as they loved spending time with each other, throwing parties, gathering at the pub to gossip about Bilbo and Frodo… and it’s okay that it’s hard for us too.We were created to live in fellowship and we are being asked to make this sacrifice for the time being, and I just wanted to acknowledge that it’s okay if you’re struggling with this. That being said, I hope sharing these ideas will help you feel a little inspired and cheered up and ready to choose well what to do with this time that’s been given to you.Read | This one might seem obvious, but log out of Netflix and pick up a book! Scrolling through twitter for 14 hours a day is not good for you, ask me how I know. Obviously I’m going to recommend reading Tolkien. If you haven’t read The Lord of the Rings yet, now’s your chance. And if you have but you haven’t read The Silmarillion, do it! If you’ll be ordering books online, check if any of your local bookstores offer online shopping, or try getting it straight from the publisher if possible. Smaller businesses are hurting right now, so try to support them if you can.If you need any other book recommendations, visit teawithtolkien.com/bookshelf for all of my book reviews and my to-be-read list. Many of them are available on the Kindle, so you don’t have to worry about going to a bookstore or ordering anything online.Go Outside | I can’t

In this episode, we are joined for Tea by Father Dan Bedel! We talked about one of Tolkien’s lesser-known works, Leaf by Niggle, as well as Tolkien’s Catholic faith, Harry Potter, and the upcoming Lord of the Rings tv show being produced by Amazon.Tolkien writes that this story is “the only thing I have ever done which cost me absolutely no pains at all. Usually I compose only with great difficulty and endless rewriting. I woke up one morning (more than 2 years ago) with that odd thing virtually complete in my head. It took only a few hours to get down, and then copy out. I am not aware of ever ‘thinking’ of the story or composing it in the ordinary sense.” - Letter 98“I recollect nothing about the writing, except that I woke one morning with it in my head, scribbled it down -- and the printed form in the main hardly differs from the first hasty version at all. I find it still quite moving, when I reread it. It is not really or properly an ‘allegory’ so much as ‘mythical’. For Niggle is meant to be a real mixed-quality person and not an ‘allegory’ of any single vice or virtue…” - Letter 241

In this episode, I was joined by Father Anthony Sciarappa (twitter’s okayest priest) to talk about myth, magic, dragons, Harry Potter, the priesthood, and more. This was such a fun interview and I hope you enjoy listening to Father Anthony’s perspective. Highlights from This Week’s Show There are really two types of magic in The Lord of the Rings: Enchantment and Magic, which we could also call the Machine. “Enchantment produces a Secondary World into which both designer and spectator can enter, to the satisfaction of their senses while they are inside; but in its purity it is artistic in desire and purpose. Magic produces, or pretends to produce, an alteration in the Primary World....it is not an art but a technique; its desire is power in this world, domination of things and wills.” - JRR Tolkien, On Fairy Stories This distinction is something we can see especially well when looking at both Gandalf and Saruman. Saruman seeks dominion over all others—working to manipulate them for the purposes of his own will; Gandalf seeks to guide others— working for the good and freedom of all.  Tolkien often gets lumped in with Harry Potter or even Disney and such in terms of being banned by well-meaning religious parents because they see the word ‘wizard’  or ‘magic’ and it stresses them out, so I think it’s important to help people understand how Tolkien’s is different in that sense.

Find the show notes at www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/16