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The Tolkien Professor

The Tolkien Professor podcast is a series of lectures, discussions, and seminars on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien by Corey Olsen, Assistant Professor of English at Washington College in Maryland. Find me on Facebook at “The Tolkien Professor,” on Twitter at @tolkienprof, or at my website at www.tolkienprofessor.com. I have also begun a grand new venture: the Mythgard Institute, offering courses on Tolkien studies for credit at the MA level, or just for fun! Join us at www.mythgard.org.

Latest Episodes:

293: SilmFilm 1-05: Episode 3 - He Who Shall Not Be Named Morgoth Oct 19, 2015

Show notes

    <p>We continue to discuss central themes of the season, in particular focusing on Melkor – including what the heck to call him (as well as others who experience name changes in The Silmarillion, like Sauron).</p>

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292: SilmFilm 1-04: Episode 2 - From Chaos to Harmony Oct 19, 2015

Show notes

    <p>Today we are figuring out the content of the frame story and the Silmarillion story for episode 2 and how to tie it all together.</p>

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291: SilmFilm 1-03: Episode 1 (Pilot) - The Ainulindalë Oct 02, 2015

Show notes

    <p>It’s time to discuss the Music of the Ainur, one of the most thought-provoking and beautiful stories Tolkien wrote. This is a central core concept that, while it’s detached from the “main” story of The Silmarillion, it’s always there in the background.</p>

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290: SilmFilm 1-02: Narrative Overview Sep 02, 2015

Show notes

    <p>We continue our discussion about the overall narrative of Season 1, as well as focus on the elements of the frame story that will encompass the show.</p>

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289: SilmFilm 1-01: Plot Overview Aug 26, 2015

Show notes

    <p>We will begin by discussing the overall plot of the first season and the major events that we want to occur during the season, including the Music of the Ainur, creation of Arda, the making of the Two Lamps, and the arrival of the Valar.</p>

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Episode 288: Tolkien Chat: Makin’ Movies in Middle-earth Aug 12, 2015

Show notes

Adaptation has been a topic that has intrigued many Mythgardians, including Signum University President Corey Olsen (also known as The Tolkien Professor). From music and art to film to The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) video game, the inspiration that the works of J.R.R. Tolkien have offered continues to be of interest to Corey and his podcast listeners.

In a recent Tolkien Chat, Corey took on another sort of adaptation: the new Middle-earth Lore Series. A brainchild of Joel “Andang” Shepherd, the director of the Players Alliance (a Mythgard Institute partner) and the force behind the weekly LOTRO Players News podcast, the series looks at the history of Middle-earth from an unusual angle. Using locations such as The Shire, Bree-land and Rivendell as anchors, the episodes relates the history of each place and the people who inhabited it. And those places and people are all inside LOTRO.

The first episode of the series, “The Shire,” was recently released, and to celebrate the launch. Corey talked to Andang about how he came up with the series idea, who its target audience is, and what the experience shooting within LOTRO is like. Andang shared many observations that are universal across all forms of adaptation.

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287: SilmFilm 0-04: Plot Mapping Jul 24, 2015

Show notes

    <p>In the final episode in this season, we will attempt to lay out a map for the whole show, season by season.</p>

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286: SilmFilm 0-03: Storytelling Jul 13, 2015

Show notes

    <p>We will continue tackling big issues, including chronology, language style and use of narration.</p>

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285: SilmFilm 0-02: Big Decisions Jun 20, 2015

Show notes

    <p>We will discuss some of the critical issues that will lay the foundation of the adaptation, including character depiction, music and magic.</p>

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284: SilmFilm 0-01: Introducing the Silmarillion Film Project Jun 09, 2015

Show notes

    <p>We will explain what we are doing and what we are not doing in this project. We will explain the general framework of our episodes and give a high level overview of what we will cover in Season 0. We will conclude the episode (as we will conclude all our episodes) with a question for listeners to discuss in the forum prior to a final decision at the start of the next episode.</p>

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