Exploring Tolkien
By TheOneRing.com
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Subscribers: 18
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Episodes: 169
Description
The bi-weekly podcast for serious Tolkien fans. Hosts Jonathan Watson and Michael Grumbine of TheOneRing.com (the internet’s longest Tolkien community since 1999) read through The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and every Age of Middle-earth — chapter by chapter. Plus conversations with artists, creators, and scholars–and honest commentary on what Hollywood keeps getting wrong about Tolkien’s legacy. 160+ episodes.
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
|
165. An Interview with Bernard Hill (Théoden)
|
Jun 25, 2026 |
|
164. A Glimmer of Hope Through the Eyes of Death : Children of Húrin #3
|
Jun 09, 2026 |
|
163. The Most Tragic Middle-earth Childhood : Children of Húrin #2
|
May 26, 2026 |
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162. Morgoth’s Curse and the Pride of Men : The Children of Húrin #1
|
May 12, 2026 |
|
161. Tolkien’s First Tragic Tale : The Story of Kullervo
|
Apr 28, 2026 |
|
160. Did Peter Jackson make Saruman too Powerful? : Film Changes #49 and #50
|
Apr 14, 2026 |
|
159. Boromir’s Slippery Slope : Film Change #48 (and Stephen Colbert’s Lord of the Rings movie!?)
|
Mar 31, 2026 |
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159. One DOES Simply Walk Into Mordor : Film Changes #46 and #47
|
Mar 18, 2026 |
|
158. An Interview with Sean Astin (Sam Gamgee)
|
Mar 04, 2026 |
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157. Is this the BEST Change in The Lord of the Rings Films? : Film Changes #44 and #45
|
Feb 18, 2026 |
|
156. The Cringiest Line in Lord of the Rings : Film Changes #42 and #43
|
Feb 03, 2026 |
|
155. The Infamous Messenger Moth : Film Changes #39, #40, and #41
|
Jan 22, 2026 |
|
154. Tolkien Wrote the Ultimate Retcon – The Hobbit #38
|
Jan 06, 2026 |
|
153. The Christmas Eucatastrophe (and is The Lord of the Rings a Christmas movie?)
|
Dec 23, 2025 |
|
152. Tolkien Ties up EVERY Loose End (we’re done!) – The Hobbit #37
|
Dec 12, 2025 |
|
151. Eagles Didn’t Win the Battle – The Hobbit #36
|
Nov 26, 2025 |
|
150. Tolkien’s Battle Tactics – The Hobbit #35
|
Nov 11, 2025 |
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149. Bilbo’s Honest Betrayal – The Hobbit #34
|
Oct 28, 2025 |
|
148. Bilbo Doubles Down on Burglary – The Hobbit #33
|
Oct 15, 2025 |
|
147. Is Thorin Gold-Sick or Just Sick of the Elves – The Hobbit #32
|
Sep 30, 2025 |
|
146. Smaug’s Hydrophobia – The Hobbit #31
|
Sep 16, 2025 |
|
145. Is the Arkenstone a Silmaril? – The Hobbit #30
|
Sep 04, 2025 |
|
144. Never Laugh at Live Dragons – The Hobbit #29
|
Aug 19, 2025 |
|
143. Playing Tales of the Shire So You Don’t Have To
|
Aug 07, 2025 |
|
142. Size Matters to Every Dragon – The Hobbit #28
|
Jul 22, 2025 |
|
141. An Interview with Elijah Wood
|
Jul 11, 2025 |
|
140. Into the Mountain’s Throat – The Hobbit #27
|
Jun 24, 2025 |
|
139. The Problem with Thorin – The Hobbit #26
|
Jun 10, 2025 |
|
138. What Tolkien Really Thinks About Politicians – The Hobbit #25
|
May 27, 2025 |
|
137. Do the elves have ANYTHING valuable to trade? – The Hobbit #24
|
May 13, 2025 |
|
136. The Lowest IQ Elves of Middle-earth? – The Hobbit #23
|
Apr 29, 2025 |
|
135. The Greedy and Petty Elves of Mirkwood – The Hobbit #22
|
Apr 15, 2025 |
|
134. When Bilbo Became the Hero – The Hobbit #21
|
Apr 01, 2025 |
|
133. Ainulindalë – A Reading in JRR Tolkien’s Voice
|
Mar 18, 2025 |
|
132. Evil or Elves or Both… Terror in Mirkwood : The Hobbit #20
|
Mar 04, 2025 |
|
131. The Weirdest Chapter in Middle-earth (with dancing bears!?) : The Hobbit #19
|
Feb 18, 2025 |
|
130. Where did Beorn Originate (and what was Tolkien’s inspiration)? : The Hobbit #18
|
Feb 04, 2025 |
|
129. Tolkien Loved Eagles (too much?) : The Hobbit #17
|
Jan 21, 2025 |
|
A Song of Ice and Fire
|
Jan 15, 2025 |
|
128. A Courageous Hobbit and Disloyal Dwarves : The Hobbit #16
|
Jan 07, 2025 |
|
Revisiting Tolkien’s Lost ‘Noel’ Poem
|
Dec 25, 2024 |
|
127. Where War of the Rohirrim went Wrong – In Depth Review
|
Dec 24, 2024 |
|
126. Why Did Tolkien Change The Hobbit (and what did he change)? : The Hobbit #15
|
Dec 17, 2024 |
|
125. Bilbo Trembled and Found Pity : The Hobbit #14
|
Dec 10, 2024 |
|
124. Miserable Riddles in the Dark : The Hobbit #13
|
Nov 26, 2024 |
|
123. Nightmare in Moria : The Hobbit #12
|
Nov 19, 2024 |
|
122. The Real Misty Mountains : The Hobbit #11
|
Nov 12, 2024 |
|
121. Tolkien Gave Up on Fixing The Hobbit : The Hobbit #10
|
Nov 05, 2024 |
|
120. Where the Children’s Story Ends and the Epic Story Begins : The Hobbit #9
|
Oct 29, 2024 |
|
119. The Rings of Power Leaves us with Dwarf Politics and Randomly Shouting Elves
|
Oct 08, 2024 |
|
118. Yes. Elrond kissed Galadriel.
|
Oct 01, 2024 |
|
117. Clueless Elves, Big Beasts, and Bombadil Inverts Tolkien’s Words
|
Sep 24, 2024 |
|
116. Hollywood Doesn’t Understand the Númenoreans’ Faith
|
Sep 17, 2024 |
|
115. Tom Bombadil has Become Obi-Wan in The Rings of Power
|
Sep 10, 2024 |
|
114. Rings of Power Returns – Episode 1 Review
|
Sep 04, 2024 |
|
113. Looking at the War of the Rohirrim Trailer (and Rings of Power clips)
|
Aug 27, 2024 |
|
112. Are these Really the Same Elves from The Lord of the Rings? : The Hobbit #8
|
Aug 20, 2024 |
|
111. This is why Tolkien SHOULD have rewritten The Hobbit : The Hobbit #7
|
Aug 13, 2024 |
|
110. A Brave Burglar and Deficient Dwarves : The Hobbit #6
|
Aug 05, 2024 |
|
109. Gandalf Gets Pushy : The Hobbit #5
|
Jul 30, 2024 |
|
108. What Went Wrong with Tolkien’s 1960 Hobbit Rewrite : The Hobbit #4
|
Jul 23, 2024 |
|
107. How the Baggins Side of Bilbo Lost : The Hobbit #3
|
Jul 16, 2024 |
|
106. The Hobbit was NOT Originally in Middle-earth : The Hobbit #2
|
Jul 09, 2024 |
|
105. Tolkien Changed The Hobbit Twice : The Hobbit #1
|
Jun 25, 2024 |
|
104. The REAL War of the Rohirrim, According to Tolkien
|
Jun 18, 2024 |
|
103. Tom Bombadil, The Hunt for Gollum, and Viggo Mortensen are Back… and so is Dan!
|
Jun 04, 2024 |
|
102. An Interview with Billy Boyd (Pippin) and Dominic Monaghan (Merry) – 2003 Roundtable Interviews
|
May 29, 2024 |
|
101. Bree’s Dark Turn
|
May 21, 2024 |
|
100. Should The Lord of the Rings Films have kept the Barrow-downs?
|
May 14, 2024 |
|
99. Tom Bombadil is NOT important? Tolkien said it!
|
May 07, 2024 |
|
98. Why Peter Jackson Cut the Old Forest and Old Man Willow
|
Apr 30, 2024 |
|
97. Peter Jackson CUT the Godfather of the Shire : Film Changes #30 and #31
|
Apr 23, 2024 |
|
96. The Wizard Duel and Orthanc in Real Time : Film Changes #29 and #30
|
Apr 16, 2024 |
|
95. An Interview with Howard Shore, Lord of the Rings Composer – 2003 Roundtable Interviews
|
Apr 09, 2024 |
|
94. The Rings of Power is PEAK TV – Top Scenes, Top Characters and Top Quotes
|
Apr 01, 2024 |
|
93. Sauron’s FIRST Defeat – Finishing Tolkien’s Unfinished Tale – Aldarion and Erendis – Part 8
|
Mar 26, 2024 |
|
92. NEW Tolkien Book with UNPUBLISHED Content Announced!
|
Mar 19, 2024 |
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91. Finishing Tolkien’s Unfinished Tale – Aldarion and Erendis – Part 7
|
Mar 05, 2024 |
|
90. A Spiteful Marriage, a New Enemy, and a Watery End – Aldarion and Erendis – Part 6
|
Feb 27, 2024 |
|
89. The Sacrificial King and the Fallen Queen – Aldarion and Erendis – Part 5
|
Feb 20, 2024 |
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88. Middle-earth’s Worst Dad – Aldarion and Erendis – Part 4
|
Feb 13, 2024 |
|
87. Mariner, King, or Husband? – Aldarion and Erendis – Part 3
|
Feb 06, 2024 |
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86. Men are from Mars, Women Hate the Ocean – Aldarion and Erendis – Part 2
|
Jan 30, 2024 |
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85. This Sea is NOT Always Right – Aldarion and Erendis – Part 1
|
Jan 23, 2024 |
|
84. Removing Radagast and Hobbit Thieves : Film Changes #27 and #28
|
Jan 16, 2024 |
|
83. Meeting Gandalf in Bree and a Glimpse of Gildor : Film Changes #25 and #26
|
Jan 09, 2024 |
|
82. Bilbo’s Party Changes and 17 Years Lost : Film Changes #23 and #24
|
Dec 28, 2023 |
|
81. Tolkien Created an Entire North Pole Mythology!
|
Dec 19, 2023 |
|
80. Gandalf’s a Headbanger and Frodo’s Unexpected Introduction
|
Dec 12, 2023 |
|
79. Tolkien’s Christmas poem was lost for 80 years!
|
Dec 05, 2023 |
|
78. Bilbo’s Prologue and The Rings of Power is NOT fixing The Lord of the Rings Films
|
Nov 28, 2023 |
|
77. Men Want Power, Isildur Didn’t Kill Sauron, and the Ring’s Mind – with The Tolkien Road!
|
Nov 21, 2023 |
|
76. Saruman the suck-up, Elrond hates Men, and Formless Sauron – with the Middle-earth Mixer!
|
Nov 14, 2023 |
|
75. Gimli’s Comic Relief, Boromir’s Wrong Hair, and Legolas’s Big Elf Boots
|
Nov 07, 2023 |
|
74. Aragorn’s Big Change and The Hobbit Youth Movement
|
Oct 31, 2023 |
|
73. How Peter Jackson Changed the Wizard, the Pranksters, and Frodo’s Best Bud
|
Oct 24, 2023 |
|
72. Adapting Lord of the Rings, Cutting up the Story, and Dropping the Poetry
|
Oct 17, 2023 |
|
71. An Interview with Lord of the Rings Screenwriter Philippa Boyens
|
Oct 03, 2023 |
|
70. An Interview with Viggo Mortensen
|
Sep 26, 2023 |
|
69. Music is Escape : An Interview with Jeff Johnson – Musician, Composer, Producer
|
Sep 19, 2023 |
|
68. An Interview with Liv Tyler and Orlando Bloom
|
Sep 12, 2023 |
|
67. An Interview with Ian McKellen : He Read Tolkien EVERY NIGHT Before Filming
|
Sep 05, 2023 |
|
66. Happily Ever After isn’t Enough – On Fairy Stories, Part 6
|
Aug 29, 2023 |
|
65. Escape Isn’t Possible with “Modern” Storytelling – On Fairy Stories, Part 5
|
Aug 22, 2023 |
|
64. Movies are NOT Sub-Creation – On Fairy Stories, Part 4
|
Aug 15, 2023 |
|
63. Kids Ruin Everything – On Fairy Stories, Part 3
|
Aug 08, 2023 |
|
62. Tolkien Still Matters : with Nick Groom, author of Tolkien in the 21st Century
|
Aug 01, 2023 |
|
61. An Interview with Peter Jackson : It’s for the fans!
|
Jul 25, 2023 |
|
60. The Origins of Fantasy – A Soup with Distance and Time: On Fairy Stories, Part 2
|
Jul 18, 2023 |
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59. Talking Tolkien with Renowned Artist Ted Nasmith
|
Jul 11, 2023 |
|
58. Is Star Wars a Fairy Story? – On Fairy Stories, Part 1
|
Jul 04, 2023 |
|
57. This is the (raw) Meat – The Silmarillion – A Final Look – The Silmarillion – 37
|
Jun 27, 2023 |
|
56. Make Tolkien Great Again – Of the Rings of Power, Part 2 – The Silmarillion – 36
|
Jun 20, 2023 |
|
55. The Chuck E. Cheese of Middle-earth – Of the Rings of Power, Part 1 – The Silmarillion – 35
|
Jun 13, 2023 |
|
54. Gollum’s Apology, Why We Love Tolkien, and the Nerdiest Thing We’ve Ever Done
|
Jun 06, 2023 |
|
53. The Path to Gollum’s Redemption | Tolkien Discusses What May Have Happened
|
May 30, 2023 |
|
52. Fellowship Fridays Live | NEW Lord of the Rings MMO, Galadriel’s BIG Life Changes, Gollum Game | #3
|
May 23, 2023 |
|
51. Liars and Junkies of the 2nd Age – Akallabêth, Part 2 – The Silmarillion – 34
|
May 16, 2023 |
|
50. Rings of Power Got it ALL WRONG – Akallabêth, Part 1 – The Silmarillion – 33
|
May 09, 2023 |
|
49. Elven genetics! Race-baiting! Half-elf lies! | Of the Voyage of Eärendil – The Silmarillion – 32
|
May 02, 2023 |
|
48. Fellowship Fridays Live | NEW Lord of the Rings Movies, Rings of Power DIED, Gollum Game| #1
|
Apr 30, 2023 |
|
47. The Sea is Always Right! – Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin – The Silmarillion – 31
|
Apr 25, 2023 |
|
46. What’s Good in the Rings of Power?! – with The Middle-earth Mixer
|
Apr 18, 2023 |
|
45. Real Middle-earth Bling – Of The Ruin of Doriath – The Silmarillion – 30
|
Apr 11, 2023 |
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44. Captain Foolhardy! – Of Túrin Turambar, Part 2 – The Silmarillion – 29
|
Apr 04, 2023 |
|
43. The Worst Hero – Of Túrin Turumbar, Part 1 – The Silmarillion – 28
|
Mar 28, 2023 |
|
42. Sub-creation is Art, Not Power – with Austin Freeman, author of Tolkien Dogmatics
|
Mar 21, 2023 |
|
41. Why Tolkien is Great – with John Carswell from The Tolkien Road
|
Mar 14, 2023 |
|
40. They Don’t Understand Tolkien – with John Trent from Bounding into Comics
|
Mar 08, 2023 |
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39. Middle-earth’s Rambo – Of the Fifth Battle – The Silmarillion – 27
|
Feb 28, 2023 |
|
38. Morgoth’s Kaiju-Wolf – Of Beren and Luthien Part 3 – The Silmarillion – 26
|
Feb 21, 2023 |
|
37. 10 Ways The Lord of the Rings has aged POORLY?!
|
Feb 14, 2023 |
|
36. Middle-earth’s Real Power Couple – Of Beren and Luthien Part 2 – The Silmarillion – 25
|
Feb 07, 2023 |
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35. Tolkien’s Real Alpha Male -Of Beren and Luthien Part 1 – The Silmarillion – 24
|
Jan 31, 2023 |
|
34. Tolkien’s Greatest Joy – Of Beren and Luthien Intro – The Silmarillion – 23
|
Jan 24, 2023 |
|
33. Sauron’s Great Entrance – The Ruin of Beleriand – The Silmarillion – 22
|
Jan 17, 2023 |
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32. There is a Tempest in Him – The Fall of Fingolfin – The Silmarillion – 21
|
Jan 10, 2023 |
|
31. Middle-earth’s Actual Strong Woman – Of the Coming of Men, Part 2 – The Silmarillion – 20
|
Jan 03, 2023 |
|
30. Noel, a Christmas Poem, by J.R.R. Tolkien
|
Dec 27, 2022 |
|
29. When Elves met Men – Of the Coming of Men, Part 1 – The Silmarillion – 19
|
Dec 20, 2022 |
|
28. Tolkien’s Disney Princess!? – Of Maeglin – The Silmarillion – 18
|
Dec 13, 2022 |
|
27. He’s an Angry Elf | Of the Noldor – The Silmarillion – 17
|
Dec 06, 2022 |
|
26. This Map is HELL – Of Beleriand – The Silmarillion – 16
|
Nov 29, 2022 |
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25. Doomsday and Dragons – Return of the Noldor, Part 2 – The Silmarillion – 15
|
Nov 22, 2022 |
|
24. Middle-earth’s Game of Thrones – Return of the Noldor – The Silmarillion – 14
|
Nov 15, 2022 |
|
23. Toxic Masculinity or Inscrutable Men – Of Men – The Silmarillion – 13
|
Nov 08, 2022 |
|
22. Inspired by Tolkien | The Rings of Power, Glass Hammer, and Music in Middle-earth
|
Nov 01, 2022 |
|
21. The First Sunrise – Of the Sun and Moon – The Silmarillion – 12
|
Oct 26, 2022 |
|
20. The Rings of Power IN-DEPTH Review : Episode 8 : Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing
|
Oct 19, 2022 |
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19. The Rings of Power IN-DEPTH Review : Episode 7 : Shadow and Flame. And a Leaf.
|
Oct 11, 2022 |
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18. The Rings of Power IN-DEPTH Review : Episode 6 : Insta-Mordor!
|
Oct 04, 2022 |
|
17. The Wisest Elves – Of the Sindar – The Silmarillion – 11
|
Sep 20, 2022 |
|
16. The Rings of Power : Episode 2 : In-Depth Discussion (where no detail matters)
|
Sep 08, 2022 |
|
15. The Rings of Power : Episode 1 : In-Depth Discussion (and a Michael Scott moment)
|
Sep 06, 2022 |
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14. Tolkien is Worth Defending : Why The Rings of Power MUST be excellent!
|
Aug 30, 2022 |
|
13. Burn the Ships – Of the Flight of the Noldor – The Silmarillion – 10
|
Aug 23, 2022 |
|
12. Morgoth’s Arachnophobia – Of the Darkening of Valinor – The Silmarillion – 9
|
Aug 16, 2022 |
|
11. The Road to Hell – Of the Silmarils – The Silmarillion – 8
|
Aug 09, 2022 |
|
10. Fire and Greed – Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor – The Silmarillion – 7
|
Aug 02, 2022 |
|
9. Love Makes You do Stupid Things – Of Thingol & Melian / Of Eldamar – The Silmarillion – 6
|
Jul 19, 2022 |
|
8. An Analysis of The Rings of Power Trailer
|
Jul 15, 2022 |
|
7. Of the Coming of the Elves – The Silmarillion – 5
|
Jul 12, 2022 |
|
Independence Day Break
|
Jul 05, 2022 |
|
6. Of Aulë and Yavanna – The Silmarillion – 4
|
Jun 28, 2022 |
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5. Of the Beginning of Days – The Silmarillion – 3
|
Jun 21, 2022 |
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4. Valaquenta – The Silmarillion – 2
|
Jun 14, 2022 |
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3. Ainulindalë – The Silmarillion – 1
|
Jun 07, 2022 |
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2. Thoughts on Amazon’s Rings of Power
|
May 31, 2022 |
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1. An Introduction to Window on the West
|
May 25, 2022 |