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

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Ned’s choice of topic: the Lord of the Rings stage musical. Growing out of a failed German attempt to stage a version of The Hobbit in 1997 and eventually turning into a high level and high budget production that ran in Toronto in 2006 and London in 2007, the musical attracted both a lot of attention and a lot of talent, from future Tony winners to regular standbys on the London stage and beyond, not to mention a remarkable combination of composer A.R. Rahman and the Finnish avant garde folk group Värttinä on the music itself. And yet, in the end, it was a flop in both of its incarnations, not making back the considerable investment made into it, and it’s essentially disappeared now. What can we make about what the production was like from the scattered bits of evidence that’s available online or in print? What elements about it succeed and which other ones needed much more work? Is it worth reclaiming in the end or is it something that was simply an attempt that didn’t work? And above all else, why in the world are the songs almost entirely unmemorable? Show Notes. Jared’s doodle, putting the ‘leg’ in Legolas. Take Your Pick! Do please join us for the ultimate Tolkien fancast episode on July 18th, or catch up with the webcast later if needed. (And hey, subscribe to Megaphonic’s YouTube channel while you’re at it?) By all means listen in for the Tolkien content in Episode 72 of It’s Just a Show, but explore the whole series! It’s marvellous, as is the show it loves and talks about in detail. The news about The Nature of Middle-earth is absolutely major. Do check out Vinyar Tengwar! It’s a wonderful publication. HarperCollins’s announcement about Andy Serkis’s new audiobook of The Hobbit. Variety’s news story confirming that Amazon’s series as well as other productions are good to go again in New Zealand. The Daily Mail’s interview with Morfydd Clark. The new casting announcement for extras for the Amazon series. Peter Jackson’s fond memories of Ian Holm. (Brian Sibley had some good thoughts too.) The archived website of the stage musical. Gary Russell’s official ‘companion’ book to the musical can be found via tons of second-hand sellers and remains the key source of information for the history of the entire production. A B-roll of scenes from the Toronto production. The New York Times’s review of the Toronto production...wasn’t thrilled. The National Geographic documentary about the London staging of the musical. An official ‘behind the scenes’ video from the London production. The New York Times once more, on the run up to the London staging. A (London) Times piece also on the run up. Scenes from the London production. The 2007 episode of the UK podcast Musical Talk about the London production, literally recorded in the audience between acts and after it ended. (A great on-the-spot listen!) The Guardian wasn’t taken by it. (The same reviewer had given the Toronto one a chance.) TheOneRing.net provided a very helpful breakdown about what was changed or altered from the book in the London staging, along with a couple of comparative notes to the Toronto one. News from when the London production wrapped up. (And a fan tribute -- there are fans of this musical, no lie!) The London cast recording is streaming in various locations (like this one). Do yourself a huge favor and check out A. R. Rahman’s work. Similarly, Värttinä will never steer you wrong. (As Jared recommends, give an ear to their 2000 album Ilmatar sometime.) Laura Michelle Kelly, to give her full name, continues to thrive on the stage in both the UK and the US after her stint spinning through the air and singing as Galadriel (though like all of us is currently waiting everything out). Jason Robert Brown would have been great for this. But alas. Rob Howell has gone from strength to strength since this production, picking up two Tonys for design among other honors. Hamilton! You’ve heard of it, we’re willing to bet. Michael Thierrault’s thoughts on playing Gollum onstage in both productions is worth a watch. Support By-The-Bywater on Patreon and help us make the show, if you can.

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Jared’s choice of topic: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Tolkien’s posthumously published translation of said poem. Written around 1400 by a still anonymous author in the West Midlands region of England, Sir Gawain has long been one of the most notable works of late medieval English literature, and Tolkien both worked on a scholarly edition of the poem with his colleague E.V. Gordon first published in 1925 as well as developing the translation which he finished in the early 1950s, and which has since become his most well-known work on the text. What possible influence on Tolkien’s own work can be found in the poem—or is there any real influence as such at all? What could be the significance of the seemingly contrasting elements of fairy story, chivalry and blunt, almost documentary-like detailing of hunting procedures? What was Tolkien aiming for with his own particular translation and how does it differ from others? And maybe above all else: how DO you pronounce Gawain’s name, much less spell it? Show Notes. Jared’s doodle for the episode. I mean, you might as well go for it. Black Lives Matter and there it is. Anyway yes, Samuel R. Delany! Octavia E. Butler! N. K. Jemisin! Marlon James! Zetta Elliott! Many many many more besides. Why deny yourself great writing? As for, shall we say, militarized police forces in non-Shire settings, there’s plenty of reading out there. The ramping up of filming in New Zealand is happening, not without various questions and concerns, but we’ll see where it goes. Print-to-order hardback History of Middle-earth books? Go nuts. There is a LOT of scholarship out there on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and we’re not going to pretend to be able to give a proper survey of it. If you’d like to see the original untranslated text, though, here you go, and if you want more on spelling and (maybe) pronunciation, a starting point is here. Here’s Luke Shelton’s post about how the name Tulkas, one of the Valar, may be derived from the Sir Gawain poem. Courtly love? Oh there’s a lot out there about that too. A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman is indeed a cracking read. Patrick Wyman’s Tides of History is a very enjoyable podcast for sure. Some of the specific episodes covering the period of English history the Gawain poet lived in have apparently passed out from being available for whatever reason, but these episodes in particular make for informative listening and for scholarly recommendations. The Green Chapel is very clearly a neolithic site, as evidenced by the Newgrange site in Ireland. There is indeed an official audiobook version of Tolkien’s translation, read by medievalist and Monty Python cast member Terry Jones. Alternate translations noted by Jared: Bernard O’Donoghue’s and Simon Armitage’s. E.R. Eddison was indeed a skilled writer. But, as they say, a caution. Tolkien’s assessment of him, positive and negative, can be found quoted at the end of this short piece. The Matter of Britain is ultimately rather French. Tolkien’s The Fall of Arthur is an interesting experiment, if incomplete. The Gawain Poet’s identity is still up for debate. The history of hunting in England is rather extensive. Leave it to the Daily Telegraph to review a book about it back in 2007. (Thankfully not everyone is fond of the sport’s modern incarnation.) Homoeroticism in Sir Gawain? You don’t say! Turns out there are three film versions of Sir Gawain—the first, from 1973, was remade into 1984’s Sword of the Valiant by the same director one decade later, but yeah, Miles O’Keeffe and Sean Connery and company don’t exactly stick the landing. In the meantime, we await A24 and Dev Patel. Some Order of the Garter info if you need it. Support By-The-Bywater on Patreon and help us create the show. (There are other causes worth supporting as well.)

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Oriana’s choice of topic: Tolkien adaptations! Reworking stories in one form or medium of art into another is pretty much part of human history in general and Tolkien’s creations, even in the modern world of copyright and licensing, are no different. Everyone knows about the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies, sure, but there’s been plenty of other adaptations done and there will be more to come—and the questions of how and why (and more) continue to be relevant. We’ll talk more about specific artworks and productions in the future but this is a general introduction to a big part of how Tolkien’s work is understood by a wider public in recent decades. What are some of our favorite adaptations in any medium? What adaptations of Tolkien’s work would we like to see happen, if money wasn’t an object? What are the key elements of any adaptation that have to be included in order to stay true to Tolkien’s core themes and approaches? And could it simply be the case that we’ve reached a point where there’s too much adapting of Tolkien—or too much attention to it—than is needed when so many newer creative voices are coming to the fore? Show Notes. Jared’s doodle for the episode. Who says the Valar have to look like humans? New Zealand’s change of state of emergency to Level 3 is a great sign for sure, but the road is long. The Tom Shippey rumors...remain just that. Timothy and Samuel West’s version of Beren and Luthien is out (and here’s their Fall of Gondolin). I mean...the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings trilogy is KINDA well-known. The Rankin-Bass Hobbit really does deserve more attention. Here’s a great essay about it from a couple of years ago. The theater Ned saw the Jackson films at was the Big Newport. And it is big. That specific FoxTrot strip Ned mentioned (forty-hour film rather than twenty, but you get the idea).The entire series of strips is here. David Lynch’s Dune is a fascinating, weird film. Good...not really. But fascinating and weird. Fans were arguing about the ‘character assassination’ of Faramir in Jackson’s Lord of the Rings pretty much straight out of the gate. And yes those words were used. Ursula K. Le Guin’s merciless vivisection of the thoroughly terrible live-action adaptation of A Wizard of Earthsea is just another reminder about why she was one of America’s greatest authors. And yes, the Studio Ghibli version isn’t great shakes, dragon design aside. Third time’s the charm with A24? Dorothy Dunnett forever. P. C. Hodgell’s God Stalk and Dark of the Moon were mindblowers for a teenage Ned. N. K. Jemisin, total hero. And yes The Fifth Season is supposedly still in the works for TNT. The name Ned was trying to say and stumbling over is Nnedi Okorafor, and he should know better. As of last year, Who Fears Death is still being adapted for HBO. The David Wenzel-illustrated graphic novel of The Hobbit is really, truly wonderful. (And it did come back into print in 2001, not 2012!) Oddly enough the cover art there doesn’t really equate to what’s inside. Various interviews with Wenzel are around; here’s a solid short one from a few years ago. Jared does indeed have good reason for boosting comic/graphic art in general. Subscribe! Saul Zaentz’s Tolkien Enterprises is now Middle-earth Enterprises. And they’re not letting THAT go any time soon. Here’s that Tom Shippey interview from last year. The viral tweet about having to compete with Tolkien and other ‘dead guys’ on fantasy bookshelves. Cassandra Khaw’s official site. Various editions of the BBC Radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings have been released—here’s a breakdown of a more recent version. Ned’s Quietus piece on Bakshi’s The Lord of the Rings and other Tolkien adaptations of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Support By-The-Bywater on Patreon, if you'd like. That would be nice.

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Ned’s choice of topic: Dennis L. McKiernan’s Silver Call Duology! Originally conceived in the late seventies and then published in the eighties, it is clearly meant to be a sequel to The Lord of the Rings in practically every aspect but name. Or rather, names, a lot of which are infelicitous at best, to Ned’s amusement and Jared and Oriana’s loud annoyance, in this, our longest episode so far. (Also, frankly, our sweariest—not constantly, but those with younger household members should take a little care!) Is this the most (excessively) detailed, formally published fanwork ever in terms of Tolkien? Why in the world is there an elf character named Shannon? Did McKiernan have any real sense about how poetry works, much less invented languages? (And what’s with his apostrophes?) How does McKiernan’s work slot in among the other post-Tolkien fantasies of its time and place? Exactly how many analogs to the Orcs are there, and why are they then named so many different ways—without vowels? Is there in fact an actually intriguing part to anything in the story? And above all else, exactly why is the character of Cotton so incredibly annoying? Show Notes. Jared’s doodle for the episode. That really is the best part of the whole story. The Amazon series shutdown, as originally reported by the NZ Herald. That...odd...tweet from the Amazon Lord of the Rings Twitter account. TheOneRing.net’s report on the death of Andrew Jack and tributes from various castmembers from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films. Oriana’s old Vox piece on languages and filming. BluBlockers! Don’t say you don’t remember. Dennis L. McKiernan’s site. Based on a Twitter post from a few months ago, we fully appreciate his views on current world leaders, shall we say. Post-Tolkien fantasy is indeed a thing and a term. (And there’s much more discussion out there.) Support By-The-Water on Patreon, and/or tell your friends about the show! Thanks.

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Jared’s choice of topic: fanwork! Whether fiction, artwork, music or more, fanwork as we understand it in modern decades has strong partial roots in Tolkien’s explosion of American popularity in the 1960s, and beyond any official adaptations or variants is a vast universe of creativity, successful or perhaps less so. What are the lines between general artistic interpretation and ‘fanwork’ as such, especially in the history of Western culture in particular? How is the stereotype of fanwork being grounded in slash scenarios and headcanon shaped by wider perceptions? Could Tolkien’s own creative work with languages and stories be fanwork in its own right? And what is it with all those metal bands who really really really love taking their names from The Lord of the Rings? Oh and by the way, filksongs! We talked about them briefly too...but you can only hear that discussion if you subscribe to the Patreon! Show Notes. Jared’s doodle for the month. Renée Vink’s “‘Jewish’ Dwarves: Tolkien and Anti-Semitic Stereotyping,” as referenced by Luke Shelton. Patricia Thang’s Bookriot piece “9 of the Best Lord of the Rings Podcasts.” So, You Want to Read Tolkien. Stuff.co.nz’s February 26th piece “Massive production underway for Lord of the Rings in Auckland.” TheOneRing.net’s February spy report on the Amazon production as well as their news summary of the accident stuntwoman Elissa Cadwell suffered on set. The original sneak preview trailer in spring 2000 from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings production. And indeed, Bezos himself was apparently in New Zealand. Deadline’s report on Maxim Baldry joining the cast. Star Trek fans, Kirk and Spock and all that? The history is there. Heavy Mithril! Curative and transformational fandom. A favorite artistic/literary fanwork effort: Gustave Dore’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Beyond Bree, still going strong! The fan film Ned was talking about is Born of Hope, and it is indeed about Arathorn, Aragorn’s father. The revelations about Marion Zimmer Bradley make for blunt reading; triggers noted. A Tolkien Treasury is around if you look. The Numero comp, which has songs like Stonehenge’s “King of the Golden Hall,” is Warfaring Strangers: Darkscorch Canticles. Got metal and prog bands who love Tolkien if you want ‘em. Cirith Ungol! Amon Amarth! And yes Marillion... Iron Crown Enterprises is still around! But as the link shows, the game license isn’t… Jared’s concluding fan artist recommendations: Aud Koch, Morgan Rogers and Caleb Hosalla. And again, support By-The-Bywater on Patreon and you can hear our bonus bit about filksongs!

Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Oriana’s choice of topic: the Dwarves! Tolkien drew on Norse mythology and related traditions when he introduced the Dwarves almost from the beginning of his Middle-earth writing, and the many Dwarves in The Hobbit all have names drawn from such mythology as well. They’re one of the most distinct peoples Tolkien created, influencing endless portrayals since then, yet much like their own history in Middle-earth, there’s a lot we don’t really know about them except very particular instances. Do what degree, if any at all, did Tolkien, unconsciously or not, draw on stereotypes of Jewish people when writing about his Dwarves? How does Gimli act as a contrast to the Dwarves as portrayed in earlier Middle-earth works, and was that a specific decision on Tolkien’s part? And maybe most importantly, can there be such a thing as a hot dwarf? We also spend some in-depth time on two big news stories: the death of Christopher Tolkien and Amazon’s announcement of the ensemble cast for their TV adaptation. Show Notes. Jared’s doodle for the episode. That ‘UK police don’t realize they have the One Ring’ story. The Tolkien Society’s announcement of Christopher Tolkien’s death. John Garth’s obituary of Christopher Tolkien from The Guardian. A translation of Christopher Tolkien’s interview with Le Monde. Amazon’s announcement of their Tolkien adaptation cast via Twitter. The Television Critics Association. It’s a thing! The National Museum of Denmark has a page up about Dwarves in Tolkien and their origins in Norse mythology. Suffice to say that the question of Tolkien’s Dwarves and anti-Semitic tropes has indeed come up a few times. Here’s one instance from last decade. ”Dwarves are Not Heroes”: Antisemitism and the Dwarves in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Writing by Rebecca Brackman. Uncut Gems was pretty good, it should be said. As for the Goblins in J. K. Rowling’s work, there’s definitely been talk about it. The letter from Tolkien to a Nazi-overseen publisher in response to a question about his ancestry is quite well-known indeed. We don’t recommend a read of Bret Stephens’s column in question. Suffice to say it didn’t go over well. Support By-The-Bywater on Patreon and come talk Tolkien with us in a private Slack!

Important note: this episode was recorded before Amazon’s formal cast announcement and the death of Christopher Tolkien . We’ll definitely have much more to say on both in next month’s episode! Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Ned’s choice of topic: Tolkien’s short mock-medieval novella, Farmer Giles of Ham. Published in 1949, though mostly written off and on over the 1930s, it was Tolkien’s first creative publication after the release of The Hobbit, though appearing some years before The Lord of the Rings itself did. Set in a happily ahistorical and anachronistic jumble of an early medieval England, it tells the story of a not-very-heroic farmer, a conniving swindler of a dragon, a cowardly braggart of a dog and a whole lot of other amusing people and creatures. (But also a very practical mare.) It’s a goofy treat at best, also featuring the debut illustrations for Tolkien by the famed Pauline Baynes, but there’s some deeper waters as well. What were some of the thematic touches that tie together Farmer Giles with his other work, Middle-earth or otherwise? What was Baynes and Tolkien’s working and personal relationship like? Did Tolkien have something against millers in general? And who, exactly, was this little fillip of a creation even for? Show Notes. Jared’s doodle. The Witcher is a thing. Netflix will be glad to have your money. The initial Variety report on Morfydd Clark’s casting as Galadriel (still not yet formally confirmed by Amazon as her role). The Deadline report on Ema Horvath’s casting. Variety’s report on Will Poulter exiting the series. There are numerous ways to donate to assist communities impacted by the Australian bushfires. Two ones we’d like to single out are Fire Relief Fund for First Nation Communities and the WIRES Emergency Fund. Numerous editions of Farmer Giles have been printed, individually or in anthologies. The 50th anniversary edition, edited by Wayne Hammond and Cristina Scull, reprints the original printing with Pauline Baynes’s illustrations as well as including numerous notes, drafts and more besides. Meantime, Alan Lee created illustrations for another printing of the story for the anthology collection Tales From the Perilous Realm. I mean, we don’t need to explain Monty Python, big feet and the Holy Grail at this point, surely. (RIP Neil Innes, Sir Robin’s chief minstrel.) Millers! They weren’t always loved. Pauline Baynes was really a remarkable artist, and her work over the decades is some of the loveliest versions of Tolkien created. High recommendation: Bilbo’s Last Song. Jafar was voiced by Jonathan Freeman, in case you were wondering! Tolkien and anarchism is an interesting subject—the exact quote from the letter discussed is “My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs).” What made a good medieval king? Here’s a modern take. Sending medieval messages was involved regardless of whether a king signed with a blot or not. Blackletter—you know the font, even if you never knew the name. Unsurprisingly, someone’s created a recipe for dragon’s tail cake. The BFI listing for the Freddie Jones version of Farmer Giles is kinda spare. As for the 1992 radio version with Brian Blessed, it’s out there! The Redwall series is a fun delight—check it out if you haven’t! The animated version can be found on Prime and probably elsewhere too. The John Howe book with Belegost and Nogrod illustrations is A Middle-earth Traveller. Support By-The-Bywater on Patreon and talk Tolkien with us in our friendly Slack!

Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Jared’s choice of topic: magic. It may seem strange given that one of Tolkien’s most central and indelible characters, Gandalf, is a wizard, but magic plays a more understated role in Middle-earth than it might seem on first blush. Starting with the famed exchange between Galadriel, Frodo and Sam about whether her mirror is magic—a question Galadriel seems not to understand—we consider magic’s role as an at once strong and yet sublimated element throughout Tolkien’s Middle-earth work. What does it mean that Gandalf often seems reluctant to do anything magical to start with? Is magic something intrinsic to certain characters, things and places, or is it a matter of craft and study? How does Tolkien’s use of magic differ or resemble magic as portrayed in other fantasy authors’ work? Does the off-hand mention of Queen Berúthiel in The Lord of the Rings contain a larger clue to how widespread magic itself might be? And which of us confessed to trying to use Gandalf’s fire-creating spell on the slopes of Caradhras to set sticks on fire in their backyard when they were 12 years old? Show Notes. Jared’s doodle for the episode. Jared’s illustrated series of the Valier. Deadline’s report on the Amazon series’s renewal for a second season and the filming/hiatus plans. A 2010 piece from the Heterodoxology blog on Renaissance magic and Goetia in particular. William Morris continues to cast a long shadow in many ways. Trust me, you know Maxfield Parrish’s work. The Palantíri are truly mysterious objects... ...and the Istari (aka Gandalf and his compatriots) truly mysterious creations. Brandon Sanderson has written quite a lot. That’s it, that’s the note. Amon Hen, the Hill of Seeing, and its counterpart Amon Lhaw are really two of the most unusual locations in all of Tolkien’s work. A Númenorean magical—or technological—achievement? Something already there? All hail Ursula K. Le Guin and her memory. Click the link and Earthsea is the first thing you see. The Noldor were indeed initially called Gnomes. No pointy red hats necessarily implied back then; now… Queen Berúthiel. The ultimate human goth of Middle-earth? (Eöl is probably the ultimate elf goth.) Geas! Learn about it. The cookbook mentioned by Ned is Regional Cooking from Middle-earth: Recipes of the Third Age—the listed author is Emerald Took, a pseudonym for Stephanie Simmons, whose story and influences can be found in two 2002 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette stories here and here. If you’re planning on reading ahead for the next episode, this edition is exhaustive in the best way. Be like Jared and read Mervyn Peake, you’ll be glad you did. Support By-The-Bywater on Patreon if you can. Thanks!

Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Oriana’s choice of topic: Tom Bombadil. Famous—or more probably, infamous—jolly Tom is one of the most unusual characters in The Lord of the Rings, dropped in wholesale, along with his partner Goldberry the River Daughter, the threatening Old Man Willow and the bone-chilling Barrow-wight, from a playful English folklore-tinged poem Tolkien wrote years even before The Hobbit was published. And, well, boy, does he sing a lot—and caper. What’s he even doing in Middle-earth to start with, and how does he, or doesn’t he, fit with the entire logic of the larger story? Is it impossible to adapt him for the screen or even the radio? And—despite all of that—what are some of his better qualities as a character in this story, given that in the end he also inspires some of Tolkien’s most lovely—and, alternately, terrifying—writing? Show Notes. Jared’s doodle for the episode. Tom’s walking along but he’s not alone… Deadline’s report on Joseph Mawle’s casting as Oren. Hm, yes, Oren. Mm. Collider’s report on Maxim Baldry’s casting. Ioreth is pretty damn great, no lie. Christopher Lee DID do a project that Tom Bombadil appears in—but not the one you’re thinking of. Väinämöinen has seen a lot, at least according to the Finns. “Oldest and Fatherless: The Terrible Secret of Tom Bombadil.” If you really must listen to the 1979 NPR production of The Lord of the Rings, be our guest. Brian Sibley’s 1992 BBC radio series Tales From the Perilous Realm, via CD or Audible. Farmer Maggot rules—and here’s a little more about why he has that name. Tolkien’s Letter 144, written to Naomi Mitchison. The Dude abides. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is a fun read for sure, especially with Pauline Baynes’s illustrations. Bored of the Rings is a thing. The Last Ringbearer by Kirill Eskov is the thoroughly unofficial Russian-language sequel/alternate read on Middle-earth. But it’s part of a long tradition of response literature. (Consider The Wind Done Gone.) AO3. That’s all we’ll say. Barrow-wights are seriously creepy as hell. Support By-The-Bywater on Patreon and help us make the show. Oh, and hang out with us in a members-only Slack!

Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Ned’s choice of topic: Ghân-buri-Ghân. Briefly featuring in The Return of the King as a leader of ‘Wild Men’ who offers to help the Rohirrim on their ride to Minas Tirith, Ghân-buri-Ghân is on the surface seemingly little more than a caricature on several levels: a stoic ‘tribesman,’ perhaps even a noble savage with all that implies. But in both his sharp, sometimes very darkly sardonic responses to the Rohirrim and in the further backstory that Tolkien then created for Ghân-buri-Ghân’s culture as a whole, Tolkien explores some very deep waters indeed. What might be the connections between Tolkien’s depiction of small powers in the shadow of an empire and the realities of the British Empire he grew up in? What do Tolkien’s writings on the Drúedain show in terms of how he viewed them in the grand scheme of Middle-earth’s design? And on a final note, what does the little known story “Tal-Elmar” show in terms of imperialism, colonialism and conquest during the era of Númenorean dominance? Show Notes. Jared’s doodle of Ghân-buri-Ghân and the Púkel-men. Luke Shelton’s tweet response that led us to Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J.R.R. Tolkien. John Rateliff absolutely knows his Tolkien. Here’s the news on the wider casting call for the Amazon series. Taika Waititi! He’s a guy. Ghân-buri-Ghân—only there for a couple of pages, but it’s a hell of an appearance. Separately, more on the Púkel-men and the Drúedain. (One of the Púkel-men statues does make a very brief appearance in Peter Jackson’s Return of the King.) Louise Liebherr’s “Reimagining Tolkien: A Post-colonial Perspective on The Lord of the Rings.” The Neanderthals remain a vividly strong presence in how society considers prehistory—and how that consideration can change over time. Orientalism retains a strong—and pernicious—influence to the present day. Irish Home Rule was absolutely a dominant political question in Victorian and Edwardian days. Tolkien’s Letter 61 is one of his most vivid and revealing. Christina Fawcett’s “Play and Pacifist Space: Language in the Writing of J.R.R. Tolkien.” “Tal-Elmar” may in the end be the most mysterious Middle-earth story Tolkien ever wrote. Support By-The-Bywater on Patreon and help us make the show. Thanks!