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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:

Episode 243: Silmarillion Seminar 35: Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, Part 2 Feb 08, 2014

Show notes

The thirty-fifth session of the Silmarillion Seminar, covering Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, Part 2

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Episode 242: Riddles in the Dark Year 3, Phase 1, Episode b Jan 31, 2014

Show notes

The second installment of Phase 1 of Year 3 of Riddles in the Dark team sees us revisiting The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug one last time. Three key themes are considered in the context of how they will follow through into The Hobbit: There and Back Again: 1) Dark versus Light; 2) Tauriel and Legolas and how they represent the Elvish portion of the story; and 3) Return of the King, Erebor style.

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Episode 241: Riddles in the Dark Year 3, Phase 1, Episode a Jan 16, 2014

Show notes

The Riddles in the Dark team returns for the third and final round of the "how will Jackson tell the story" game. Phase 1, Episode a is a general look back at The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. Corey and Dave coin new terms to describe various ways people have reacted to the films of the trilogy so far, while Trish cracks the whip to keep things on track.

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Episode 240: Tolkien Chat 17: Reactions to the Desolation of Smaug Part 2 Dec 23, 2013

Show notes

Part 2: Professor Olsen discusses his reactions to the second Hobbit movie, The Desolation of Smaug

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Episode 239: Tolkien Chat 16: Reactions to the Desolation of Smaug Part 1 Dec 23, 2013

Show notes

Part 1: Professor Olsen discusses his reactions to the second Hobbit movie, The Desolation of Smaug

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Episode 238: A Bit of Wookie: Riddles in the Dark Year 2 in Review Dec 12, 2013

Show notes

As The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug is unveiled around the world, Tolkien Professor Corey Olsen, Laura Berkholtz, and Trish Lambert review all the riddles and conundra posed in the second year of the Riddles in the Dark game

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Episode 237: Riddles in the Dark: Hail Fellow and Fewmets! Nov 23, 2013

Show notes

Warming up by looking at some more materail from The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, our Riddles in the Dark co-hosts move on to talk about the extended edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

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Episode 236: Riddles in the Dark 2.16: You Be Dragon? Nov 17, 2013

Show notes

Checking out a flood of material released by Peter Jackson for The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, with a little dissension amongst our Riddles in the Dark co-hosts to spice things up. Note: This was a highly visual episode, as Corey et al. tracked back and forth through the videos being considered. If you prefer to watch the episode rather than just listen to the audio, go to http://www.mythgard.org/?p=5060.

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Episode 235: Riddles in the Dark 2.15: Fringe Festival 2 Nov 16, 2013

Show notes

Considering the fringe characters in The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug by way of Lego set interpretation. There is a visual companion PDF for this episode available at http://www.tolkienprofessor.com/documents/ritd2.15VisualCompanion.pdf

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Episode 234: Riddles in the Dark Digest 2.11: Blame it on the Arkenstone Nov 12, 2013

Show notes

Trish Lambert and Laura Berkholtz take on the weighty theme of bromance in The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug.

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