Amon Sûl

Fr. Paul Hodge joins Fr. Andrew to look at the leaders of the legendarium, both great and small, good and evil. Is Bilbo a leader? What about the more obvious ones like Aragorn and Gandalf? Or the less likely, like Feanor or Aldarion? They wrap up with a reading from The Notion Club Papers, Tolkien’s abandoned time travel novel.

Richard Rohlin discusses everyone’s second least-favorite chapter of the Silmarillion with John Wayne Coatney. Along the way, they discuss camel husbandry and shower genealogies.

Steven “Yay!” Christoforou returns to the podcast to talk with Fr. Andrew about using Tolkien and other imaginative fiction in ministry, about what it means to live (and not live) in Sarumanic fashion, and how confronting monsters is at the core of the Christian life. Thrill as Steve can’t remember not to call him Sauron, Fr. Andrew badly pronounces Old English, and both make a plethora of allusions to the Ancient Faith Cinematic Universe.

Richard interviews “The Tolkien Professor” and Signum University president Corey Olsen, and they discuss the Silmarillion in its various conceptions and whether it really even exists. Richard also vents his spleen.

Fr. Anthony Cook returns to the podcast to take a deep dive with Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick into the Ainulindalë, Tolkien’s myth of how the creation is sung into being, including the origin and problem of free will and evil, as well as the making of the Tolkienian divine council. They wrap up with a new segment, looking at the Finnish epic The Kalevala, a highly influential piece in Tolkien’s formation and legendarium.

Fr. Andrew and Richard Rohlin introduce “The Last Homely House,” a new series of episodes hosted by Richard, and discuss “Of Aule and Yavanna” from The Silmarillion. And Fr. Andrew shockingly uses an Elvish pejorative.

Tolkien scholar and history professor Bradley Birzer joins Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick to discuss his Tolkien books, legend-making, Tolkien in culture and as a Christian humanist, and the Nativity of Christ as the eucatastrophe of human history.

AFR station manager Bobby Maddex (finally!) joins Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick to geek out about the Peter Jackson film trilogy, and how it compares with the books, the good and bad unique to the films. And of course the hobbits get taken once more to Isengard, courtesy of fan-submitted quiz questions.

Michael Haldas returns to the podcast to talk none other than the great Frodo Baggins with Fr. Andrew. Along the way, they talk about what sailing from the Grey Havens really means, where in Middle-earth they’d love to live and visit, as well asking: Why introduce other people to Tolkien?

Tolkien scholar Dr. Lisa Coutras joins Fr. Andrew to talk the theology of beauty in Tolkien’s legendarium, including deep dives into the tales of Beren and Luthien and Turin Turambar. They wrap up with your indispensable wishlist items for a Hobbit birthday.