By-The-Bywater: A Podcast about All Things J.R.R. Tolkien

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Oriana’s choice of topic: the Scouring of the Shire. Both the title of the penultimate chapter of The Lord of the Rings and the event it refers to, the Scouring depicts what happens when Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin return home after all their adventures, only to discover familiar places changed beyond recognition, not to mention the spirit of the Shire in general. Ranging from family reunions and stirring moments of bravery to guerrilla warfare and final scenes of at times surprising horror, it’s a remarkable elaboration on the idea that—unlike in some fairy tales or their descendants—you can’t entirely go home again. How do the individual hobbits both collectively and individually react to their situations, and in doing so, what does that mean for what is the ‘right’ way to respond? What implicit comments could Tolkien be making not only about his own experiences in war but his wider thoughts on imperialism and destruction in general? What does it mean in terms of how the Scouring seems to be ultimately less vengeful than similar situations in our own world, and could it be a form of wish fulfillment? How do adaptations of the story handle the Scouring—or do they do so at all? And why did Jared’s mom need to plant more peonies anyway? Show Notes. Jared’s doodle. For spring has sprung, you see. As was said in the insert segment, check out our fellow Megaphonic podcast The Spouter-Inn on The Fellowship of the Ring! (And the bonus episode with Oriana is out!) So yeah, looks like Amazon is kicking down a LOT of money there for their TV show. Rob Bricken has a point. Meantime, so much for Amazon’s separate Tolkien MMORPG. For now at least. John Waters has been wanting to film Fruitcake for over a decade now. Don’t Call It a Cult by Sarah Berman on NXIVM is a good read indeed. Morfydd Clark is still dropping breadcrumbs... Yeah, Scott Rudin. Piece of work, this guy. The Glomar Explorer deal is classic 1970s shenanigans. The Scouring has been represented in Tolkien artwork various ways. Alan Lee’s is one of the most famous and melancholy representations, Inger Edelfeldt’s among the most dramatic. There’s no exact equivalent in Peter Jackson’s version, of course—the brief visions in the Mirror of Galadriel aside—but the scene itself has some striking elements: the older hobbit woman wondering what’s up, and especially the wordless toast at the Green Dragon. Restorative justice is gaining in popularity and interest. In re Indiana Jones—never choose poorly. Letter 100 from the published Tolkien letters is a very interesting state-of-mind read at the end of World War II. Here’s our episode on imperialism. More on umbrellas in Seattle. And if you’re wondering about ACAB… Support By-The-Bywater and all the Megaphonic shows on Patreon!

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Ned’s choice of topic: the 1977 Rankin-Bass version of The Hobbit. Produced by the Rankin-Bass team and animated by Japanese animation studio Topcraft, 1977’s The Hobbit was a widely promoted effort for mainstream American network TV. As a result, it gave Tolkien’s work its highest profile in the US to that point, winning awards and eventually prompting a further Rankin-Bass sequel drawing on The Return of the King. However, it swiftly became more of a cult classic curio, more known of than known, deemed a product of its time and the attendant limitations the creative team had to work with by default. However it retained fans and, especially in the wake of Peter Jackson’s own three-film adaptation of the book, it gained a new wave of reappreciation in contrast to both that and the source text. What were some of the decisions made in the course of simplifying and adapting the story, and how did they change the overall impact of the effort as a result? Are the songs and musical performances handy complements to the whole or are they too perhaps just a little too much even in context? Are there any notable vocal acting performances among the ensemble and do they stand up to more familiar actors in other versions? And is there any final way to determine exactly why and how Rankin-Bass were actually able to create the film in the first place given that they didn’t have any formal license from the current rights-holders at the time? Show Notes. Jared’s doodle. Burn baby burn, Lake-town inferno. It really has been two years since we started! If you’ve been along with us for the whole ride, we thank you again. Deadline’s report on Wayne Che Yip joining the Amazon production. The production’s photo from the unknown New Zealand beach. Tom Budge’s Instagram post about leaving the production and the subsequent IndieWire story. RuPaul’s Drag Race is definitely a thing. No Tolkien connection...yet. News on the new Tolkien-illustrated edition of The Lord of the Rings via TheOneRing.net. Yup, this trailer is twenty years old. Pre-YouTube downloads were where it was at. Rick Goldschmidt’s history of Rankin-Bass is very much available. Russell A. Potter’s key article about the making of The Hobbit can be found in Hogan’s Alley #20. There’s some extra illustrations included at this link. The Rankin-Bass Hobbit can be viewed online various ways via streaming services/rentals. If you’d like to do what Ned did and replicate his youthful listening experience after that first broadcast, enjoy! Luke Shelton’s 2020 piece about the shadowy 1960s Hobbit animation gives what info you need about that cryptic effort. Here’s Middle-earth Enterprises’ own timeline for the general rights—worth remembering again that Rankin-Bass’s production was not licensed from them. The major ‘in the moment’ preview feature for the Rankin-Bass Hobbit appears to have been John Culhane’s New York Times piece that ran just a day or two before the broadcast. Not only are Arthur Rankin and Orson Bean interviewed with a variety of anecdotes but also, regarding his own separate production, Ralph Bakshi. Rick Goldschmidt’s interview with Arthur Rankin Jr. from 2003—The Hobbit is discussed starting around 12 minutes in. Arthur Rackham’s influence continues in various ways, but thankfully the 21st century has a much wider scope. A quick and useful explainer about the Japanese animation connections in The Hobbit. It really did win a Peabody! The briskly-told barrel sequence from Rankin-Bass Walt Simonson is quality. That W. C. Fields Philadelphia line, apocryphal as it might be. It’s true...the Rankin-Bass Elves are very odd looking. Brian Froud is good quality. And of course a collaborator with Alan Lee! How the Rankin-Bass Elvenking sits on his throne is DEFINITELY not how Lee Pace does. Pantsless Lake-men indeed. In this cel, Bard’s on the left, fancy armor and no pants. More of our recent thoughts on orcs. Shin Godzilla IS very great. Smaug at his best in the film is pretty terrifying! Brother Theodore was truly remarkable. Enjoy Penn Jillette’s memories and the compilation of Theodore’s Letterman appearances. Diagetic music is something you know even if you don’t know it. Thurl Ravenscroft, the legend. Glenn Yarbrough’s Wikipedia page is...odd. Here’s him with the Limeliters in the initial splash of his fame. Our fellow Megaphonic podcast This Is Your Mixtape is well worth your time. Here’s Ned’s episode, and Oriana’s should be up soon. Kermit singing “The Rainbow Connection” at Newport rules. The whole Ace/Ballantine Lord of the Rings paperback situation is truly as important as is claimed! Support By-The-Bywater via Patreon. (Thanks!)

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Jared’s choice of topic: the Istari. Also known as the Five Wizards, the cohort of Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast, and the two mysterious Blue Wizards, these beings are superficially some of the most easily understandable characters in Tolkien’s mythology: old men who know magic and can cast spells, very much in a long standing mythological and folktale tradition. But while Gandalf may have made his debut in The Hobbit as just such a character, over time, as with so many other elements in his work, Tolkien deepened his background and that of his wizardly brethren in ways that still weren’t fully developed by his passing, ultimately leaving as many questions as answers. What’s suggestive about the two alternate possibilities of the fates of the Istari in Middle-earth—that they mostly failed, or that they mostly succeeded? What elements of Catholic theology are touched on in the conception of the Istari as incarnated spirits from Valinor in Middle-earth? How did Tolkien address what this was meant to represent in terms of what the Valar and Maiar had learned over time? Is it possible that Tolkien contrasted the methods of lore and knowledge Gandalf and Saruman favored in a way that had a personal relevance to his own work and life experience? And just how wonderfully human—if that’s the best comparison—is Gandalf in particular in his deeply down-to-earth ways throughout the major works? Show Notes. Jared’s doodle. Who knows what, in the end, the Blue Wizards were up to elsewhere in Middle-earth? Yup, it’s been a year. Stay well everyone. No Amazon series news but you can read Oriana’s argument about what it should include. Tolkien Gateway’s summary entry on the wizards of Middle-earth. Our earlier episode on magic. There’s plenty of discussion of how the Istari are essentially angels on Middle-earth - this article addresses it from a specifically Catholic perspective, and that’s just one of many. Letter 156 from The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien features a discussion in more detail on what Gandalf was, specifically. “Of Aulë and Yavanna” is a whole chapter of The Silmarillion for a reason. To say there’s a lot of writing on ‘classic’ wizards in world literature and mythology is an understatement. Here’s one example. And indeed, modern wizards in other media: Harry Potter! The Sorcerer’s Apprentice! The Sword in the Stone! Star Wars! Dragonslayer! (That does count.) Gandalf’s letter to Frodo is such a fun-yet-important element. Linked it before but Lindsay Ellis really did call it. The figure on the edge of Fangorn remains a subject of debate… Have a laugh with our Silver Call Duology episode! Support By-The-Bywater: A Tolkien Podcast on Patreon along with all the other fine Megaphonic shows. (And thank you if you do!)

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Oriana’s choice of topic: Orcs. While not the only ‘bad guys’ in The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien’s wider mythology by a long shot, they’re generally the most common, appearing in everything from the earliest versions of the Book of Lost Tales to the final years of his reconsiderations and potential revisions. But ultimately the Orcs themselves may also be the most mysterious, their exact origins and place in Tolkien’s wider cosmology unclear, their own culpability potentially up for question in the face of manipulation and lies at the hands of Morgoth, Sauron and their lieutenants, even as they cut literal swathes through green growing grasses and commit horrific acts of violence among other species as much as themselves. What actually does life itself mean in Middle-earth when Tolkien himself couldn’t square away who or what the Orcs were exactly? How does Tolkien’s own unsureness of the Orcs’ origins reflect upon demonizations of the ‘other’ in wider human history, especially given the unsettling implications that Orc genocide can be a solution? How best to address the unavoidably racist elements in the descriptions of the Orcs that Tolkien himself admits to within the scope of his wider themes, and how can they be envisioned in art and film? In what ways did Tolkien’s military experiences shape how the Orcs are often portrayed, and how does that signal ways in which he felt that being an Orc might be less intrinsic and more something created by circumstances? And why do Orcs sound a little like Cockneys, sort of? Show Notes. Jared’s doodle. We love the little hat. The Amazon synopsis! And it tells us...almost nothing that we didn’t already know! Tolkien Gateway’s Orcs entry gives you the basics...but the basics themselves can and do shift. Our episode on death, in contrast to this wider meditation here on life. Morgoth’s Ring does have a lot of Tolkien’s later thoughts on Orcs and more. Relatedly, hröa and fëa are important topics here. You can guess what we think about QAnon. We hope for the best for the misled. The scene with the dead Haradrim soldier is justly famed, in whatever version. Aphantasia, as Oriana mentions having. Tolkien’s letter #210 from the published collection is his response to the proposed Morton Zimmerman script. Porcs! They’re apparently coming back? The concept of the Yellow Peril is one of the most pernicious things in human history—and that’s saying something. Fu Manchu is just one small outgrowth. Totalitarianism in Middle-earth is a rich vein of study—and Tolkien clearly hated it in our world. Sing along with the Orcs! Tolkien’s Father Christmas goblins—presumably not like Orcs, but you never know. You might be familiar with the 1984 film Gremlins. (Ned still remembers the ads.) Oriana’s conlang piece in Vox (updated from when we last referred to it!). David J. Peterson was who Oriana was referring to. Pompeii’s graffiti! Ah the glory that was Rome et al. Support By-The-Bywater on Patreon (thanks!).

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Ned’s choice of topic: Smith of Wootton Major. A short non-Middle-Earth novella published in 1967 and illustrated by Pauline Baynes, Smith is a kind of a fairy tale literally about Faery, a realm which only certain people can visit. Smith, indeed a blacksmith from a sort-of medieval English town called Wootton Major, is one of those people, having received a magical silver star in his youth as part of a major ceremony based around the town’s Great Hall and its function as a place for fabulous feasts. But while Smith alternates his adult life between work, home and hearth and the visits to Faery he is able now to do, eventually there comes a time when he needs to face the necessary decision to surrender the star for a newer generation. Inspired by his unfinished preface about George MacDonald’s “The Golden Key,” Smith was the last work Tolkien published in his lifetime, a quietly entrancing story about artistry, time and the power of imagination. What do the many then-unpublished papers and background material about the story which emerged in later years say both about Smith itself and Tolkien’s work as a whole? What does the function of religion—or rather, how it is not directly portrayed in the story at all—have in both the story and in Tolkien’s argument for how it should be interpreted? What are the potential touchstones for his portrayal of the realm of Faery and the Elves who live there, who are in many ways very different from his Middle-earth Elves? And what makes the Master Cook Nokes such a satisfying antagonist—but not, as the story itself is at pains to note, an irredeemable villain? Show Notes. Jared’s doodle, a lovely invocation of a key moment in the story. Try a medieval goose recipe as you choose! One of the many reports on the newly announced cast members for the Amazon production. TheOneRing.Net did a bunch of individual profiles but you’ll have to dig through a bit for those. The Independent’s report on the apparent wrapping up of season 1. Smith of Wootton Major! Again, if you want the fullest version of the story and its background, look for Verlyn Flieger’s edition. More on George MacDonald, as well as the text of “The Golden Key.” Our Farmer Giles of Ham episode. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is well worth your time. And once again, we’re all major LeGuin fans here. The Spielberg film in question is Always. Protestant work ethics, Catholic guilt complexes, they’re things! We’ve mentioned the Kalevala before but just to link again. Blackfriars in Oxford. Edgar Rice Burroughs’ At the Earth’s Core is of course dated nonsense. But it’s there. Tolkien and Lewis, we all know the story. But if you don’t. Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. Support us on Patreon.

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Jared’s choice of topic: The Father Christmas Letters. Literally a hundred years ago this month, Tolkien began what would be a running series of letters into the early 1940s where he wrote to his children in the guise of Father Christmas at the end of each year. Never meant for publication or even sharing beyond his immediate family, the many letters, collected and republished since his passing a number of times, grow over the years from brief notes to increasingly elaborate creations, featuring original artwork, created languages, and multi-narrator stories and adventures from Father Christmas himself and his many assistants: Karhu the North Polar Bear, his rapscallion nephews Paksu and Valkotukka, and his chief elf helper Ilbereth, with a running focus on their continuing struggles with the evil Goblins. What is the folkloric background of Father Christmas himself, and how does he appear in other noted literary figures’s work, either before Tolkien or contemporaneously with him? What elements of both Tolkien’s own particular creative processes and his specific artistic interests can be seen to have multiple connections to his main work in Middle-earth? Are the letters themselves ultimately too personal in ways, perhaps providing an insight that, even with the family’s participation, could almost be seen as voyeuristic for later readers? Or is it simply the fact that the sincerity throughout goes up against any reflexive feelings of irony? And just how absolutely goofy and great is Karhu, the ultimate slapstick screwup and big hero at the same time? Show Notes. Jared’s doodle, a masterpiece of perspective. (Check the shadows.) Photos of the new forthcoming edition of The Silmarillion with more Ted Naismith illustrations. TheOneRing.net’s debut of the news about the 4K edition of the Peter Jackson films. The formal publisher announcement about The Nature of Middle-earth. The Father Christmas Letters entry in Wikipedia The centenary edition of the letters, specifically titled Letters from Father Christmas. A quick English-language article on Venezuelan Christmas traditions, per Oriana’s note. Quite literally the only mention of an Anglican guilt complex on the Net is via Ned. Father Christmas himself, per Wikipedia. The Narnia Father Christmas is definitely not Tolkien’s. Santa Claus Village in Finland, should you so desire to learn more. The Great British Bake Off is, how you say, well known. Epistolary novels are pretty big in the older canon. The staircase illustration Ned describes. The cave painting illustration Oriana mentioned, with the Oxford illustration at the top Jared describes. Baillie Tolkien is indeed still with us. A formal term for a name that replaces a forbidden name, such as is the case for ‘bear,’ is a noa-name. Here’s a brief piece with more specific information in that case. The Karhu Concept Store in Helsinki. Our previous episodes on imperialism and Farmer Giles of Ham. Dickens’s A Christmas Carol’s Ghost of Christmas Present. The Muppet Christmas Carol is next-level, forever. Medieval marginalia is the best. Support By-The-Bywater on Patreon and you can help us make the show. Thanks!

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Oriana’s choice of topic: Éowyn. As likely the most prominent character in The Lord of the Rings who’s a woman—and certainly the most prominent human woman, hands down—Éowyn and her journey in the story always has a central position in any discussion of the book, someone who grapples with any number of personal disasters and wider societal expectations to end up playing a key role in the book’s epic arc. At the same time, her final choices after that shattering confrontation with the Lord of the Nazgûl have led to questioning about whether she should be seen as a feminist icon, something that Tolkien’s own personal views on women further indelibly complicate. Were Tolkien’s own stated views on what he thought about women and society conditional, potentially subject to change possibly even depending on his perception of his audience? Is Éowyn a total outlier in her society and world or is what she does something potentially more broadly understood and accepted? Are the choices she makes towards the end of the book a return to an expected role for her in a patriarchal world, or are they reflective of her gaining a deeper understanding of herself and what her own desires and needs are no matter what others might think? And what do we all think about that moment when her hair and Faramir’s flow together in the wind as they stand on Minas Tirith’s walls awaiting the moment of doom? (We love it, of course.) Show Notes. Jared’s doodle, inspired by Scythian art and fashions. Now that’s how to win an election! J. A. Bayona says a half-way point in filming has been reached. (Half-way of what specifically, thought?) New Zealand-based film and TV production continues to be on a major roll. Ismael Cruz Córdova, a talented and sharp fellow, we’d say. Éowyn’s Tolkien Gateway entry. That moment in Peter Jackson’s The Return of the King? You know it. Tolkien’s Letter 43 to his son Michael says a lot about his viewpoints on the genders in 1941. Quite a lot. Our episode on magic, where (conceptual) space was discussed. We’re not steeped enough in the scholarship to say what would be good discussions about Éowyn and feminism—but there sure are a lot of Google results. The Rankin-Bass-via-Topcraft Éowyn is striking, no lie. Here’s their version of the confrontation scene. We didn’t mention it but there’s been recent work on the question of women’s roles in Viking societies that could be applicable. The Jackson extended Two Towers scene with the stew. (Still thinking that looks like shrimp.) The art may be rough in this portrayal but that atop the walls moment with the hair and the hands? It’s lovely. Twin Peaks: The Return is very David Lynch. Freddie Sykes aka the guy with the glove, that’s a subject of discussion. Our Erendis and Andreth-related episodes. The Valkyrie are not unknown, to put it mildly. Neither are Boudica and Morgan le Fay. A depiction of Éowyn in front of Meduseld in armor as in the book. The Jackson version of a similar moment is different but no less vivid. Alan Lee’s depiction of Éowyn and Aragorn and the cup of parting. “Courage, Merry.” When Jackson and his team got the interpreting of the material right, they got it perfectly. If you are enjoying the show, consider supporting By-The-Bywater and our network. Thanks!

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Ned’s choice of topic: Boromir, Faramir and Denethor. Uniquely in The Lord of the Rings, the fractured family dynamic between the Steward of Gondor and his two heirs is also one of politics on a grand scale, with all three reacting to the growing threat to the land they rule or are heirs to as well as trusting to a slim hope of salvation. But, of course, how each of them views that slim hope and what has to be done to see it come true is its own issue that divides them further. What does it mean when it’s said that the blood of Numenor runs true in Faramir and Denethor but not Boromir? Is Faramir himself maybe too much of a ‘good boy,’ a paladin in all but name, given the circumstances he and his land find themselves in? Do the three members of the family hearken back to the kind of feelings and sentiments that Tolkien may have seen as a young officer in World War I, on the same side but not in total alignment? Is Boromir and his dilemma served better as a character in Peter Jackson’s adaptation more than in the original text itself? And are Denethor’s final acts of despair, seen by Tolkien as one of the worst things someone can do to others and oneself, possibly a misunderstanding of what depression can be? Show Notes. Jared’s Doodle really captures the subject perfectly. They’re fully filming again in New Zealand. Isn’t it wonderful when a society actually has a plan and sticks to it? Morfydd Clark continues to give good interview quotes. Nudes, nudes, nudes. We won’t link all the pieces in response, they are too many and mostly boring. Denethor via Tolkien Gateway, and more about Boromir and Faramir there too of course. Jingoism — it’s not a good look. Our imperialism episode, where we talked some about Gondor as a society/polity. If you are enjoying the show, and if you can, please consider supporting the show (via our network, Megaphonic). Thanks!

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Jared’s choice of topic: the Ents. Like many elements of The Lord of the Rings, Treebeard appeared suddenly in the course of Tolkien actually writing it, and he himself wondered more about the unusual creation he had introduced to his already long-standing legendarium and how it fit within the whole. But whatever the impulse, Treebeard and his people, seemingly the last defenders of a vanished world of trees and forests, became one of the most beloved in the entirety of the book, though also one of the most curious and, as the story clearly shows, even alien. What were some of the impulses and feelings that went into Tolkien’s creation of the Ents, and how much of them were based on a particular perception or assumption of natural history rather than reality? How do the Ents regard the others in the world they share, and what are their priorities? How does the specifically gendered world of the Ents and the Entwives function as we know it, and how does it either reconfirm or perhaps upend perceived stereotypes on that front? What impulses of the Ents’ demonstrated capacity for almost terrifying violence in defense of their world suggest for ours, whether it be the dark spectre of ecofascism or the feeling of righteous rage against a broken socioeconomic system’s environmental fallout? And will Jared’s attempt to destroy us right at the start with a truly terrible pun succeed? Show Notes. Jared’s Doodle, a lovely and mysterious portrait. Gennifer Hutchison being clear she has nothing to share about the Amazon TV series. Maybe Kaya Scodelario is on that TV series now, maybe not, who knows… I mean who could blame Hugo Weaving at this point. Look if you really want to follow news of this Gollum video game, fine by us. A useful Ent summary via Tolkien Gateway. And don’t forget the Huorns. Beyond Bree is still around, and long may they thrive! The recent Tides of History episode by Patrick Wyman mentioning how the ancient primeval forests of Europe aren’t THAT ancient, comparatively. The article Jared read on a related subject: “The Lost Forest Gardens of Europe” There are approximately eight million artistic depictions of Treebeard out there. But do any of them truly work? We leave that up to you. The Entish language is its own mystery. (Hawaiian is not, and is very much worthy of its own separate study if you’re interested.) Treebeard’s speaking voice being modeled on C.S. Lewis is another part of Lewis and Tolkien’s lengthy, complex relationship. The fate of the Entwives, as well as the specific gender split in the species’s goals and drives, is at once forcefully clear and sadly mysterious. Here’s a piece reflecting on it all some more, including such details as the curious sighting of a ‘walking’ tree in the Shire. (Per Oriana’s comparison, here’s the episode we did on Aldarion and Erendis.) Quickbeam, a favorite of ours. Pity he didn’t make the film specifically. So how do plants break down rocks and things anyway? There are answers of course. You’re more than welcome to read about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. But not while listening to us, surely. We did indeed have a few thoughts about Galadriel last year. Frankly the Treegarth of Orthanc seems like it would be a lovely place to visit. Don’t be an ecofascist, it’s not a good look. Quiet is disappearing, but there are attempts otherwise. There are indeed Ent-draught recipes. Like this one. Or you could try the CBD cocktail. (And here was our episode on magic.) If you’re enjoying the show, and you’re able to, please consider supporting us (and our network). Thanks!

Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Oriana’s choice of topic: imperialism. As a literal citizen of the British Empire at birth in a colonial holding of what would eventually become South Africa, Tolkien’s life was directly shaped by both the seeming omnipresence of empire and its simultaneous retreat and reshaping over the course of his life. But while his creative work shows many strains of considering what an empire is and how imperialism could be seen in it, his own personal unease with empire shows in views that are complicated in many ways. What does his legendarium show as examples of empire, and are they uniform in nature? How does Tolkien conceive of a political polity like Gondor in terms of both its history and functioning as an heir to empire? What are the exact contrasts between human empires and inhuman ones such as Sauron’s, and how does Tolkien use fantasy to heighten the contrasts? What forms of empire exist through the history of Middle-earth, from linguistic to political to economic? And in a time in the real world when statues have been falling, why did Gondor love that monument in Umbar of Númenor’s simultaneous greatest triumph and spark of its absolute destruction? Show Notes. Jared’s doodle. “Sailing, sailing, over the ocean main…” Take Your Pick! Check out our collective appearance on an episode last month where we did the ultimate Lord of the Rings fancast.  TheOneRing.net’s Twitter summary of the Amazon series news from SDCC. Also, enjoy an article featuring one of the cast members that says literally nothing about what’s going on. Beyoncé’s Black is King is very much on Disney+—speaking of empires.  The 2000s Battlestar Galactica wasn’t perfect, maybe leaned a little too much into recentish American history in general for beats and imagery, but absolutely aimed for a still too rare depiction of a refugee society where instead of ‘good triumphs over evil’ everything slowly but surely falls apart over time. Episode 7 on Ghân-buri-Ghân, with some discussion of empire’s impact and colonialism. Merriam-Webster on imperialism. There you go. The British Empire’s afterechoes continue to reverberate. David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water” speech. Totalitarianism—it’s not imperialism but you can see where one can be a subset of the other. Esperanto. The speakers are out there. Episode 4 on Aldarion and Erendis, plus the initial origins of the Númenorean empire. Umbar! We did misremember the details in our chat, but the monument there of Sauron’s submission to Ar-Pharazôn was first put up not by the remnant of evil Númenoreans but by Gondor itself. Making the monument’s existence even more complicated! Faramir’s full thoughts on Minas Tirith and empire: “‘For myself,’ said Faramir, ‘I would see the White Tree in flower again in the courts of the kings, and the Silver Crown return, and Minas Tirith in peace: Minas Anor again as of old, full of light, high and fair, beautiful as a queen among other queens: not a mistress of many slaves, nay, not even a kind mistress of willing slaves. War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend: the city of the Men of Númenor; and I would have her loved for her memory, her ancientry, her beauty, and her present wisdom. Not feared, save as men may fear the dignity of a man, old and wise.‘“ Imrahil and Dol Amroth—we’d still would love to know more about all that. The Byzantine Empire had military themes. Quite a few of them. The Athenian Empire aka the Delian League. The British Raj, also the reason why the British Empire can be called that in the first place. (As Oriana mentions later, she’s currently reading The Anarchy, a book about the East India Company and the ultimate origins of the Raj.) The Kin-strife is another one of those things that we know a little about, but clearly there was a lot more there. If you're enjoying the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon. (Thanks!)