The Tolkien Professor

Latest Episodes:

470: Other Minds and Hands, Episode 6 Apr 15, 2022

Show notes

Today we will think through the Elvish political situation in Eriador in the Second Age, considering the opportunities and challenges that the Rings of Power show faces.

Other Minds and Hands: An Open and Friendly Discussion of Tolkien Adaptation, Episode 7,
recorded on April 13, 2022

Hosts:
Dr. Corey Olsen the Tolkien Professor
https://signumuniversity.org/director...
Dr. Maggie Parke
https://signumuniversity.org/director...

Other Minds and Hands takes place (almost) every week at 4 pm US Eastern, Wednesday,
on this SignumU Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/SignumUnive...
and SignumU Twitch channel https://www.twitch.tv/signumu
For more information https://mythgard.org/miscellany/
You can watch or listen to the recordings here.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa...
https://tolkienprof.fireside.fm/subsc...

Dr. Corey Olsen is offering several free and open weekly and biweekly programs on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and other topics at Mythgard Institute. https://mythgard.org/
You can check the live schedule here. https://www.twitch.tv/signumu/schedule
More about the individual programs
Exploring the Lord of the Rings: a sentence-by-sentence journey through the text of Tolkien's epic fairy story https://mythgard.org/lotro/exlotr/
Mythgard Academy: in-depth seminars on fantasy, science fiction, and other speculative works https://mythgard.org/academy/
The Silmarillion Film Project/SilmFilm: a completely hypothetical discussion about what J.R.R. Tolkien’s Silmarillion would look like as a TV series https://mythgard.org/silmfilm/
Those recordings can be found on this Signum University Youtube channel as well as on our podcasts.
https://mythgard.org/listen/
Other Minds and Hands and SilmFilm recordings are on the Tolkien Professor podcast.

We also provide affordable higher education and fun, engaging learning (Tolkien Studies, Imaginative Literature, Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance Literature, and Germanic Philology) at Signum University. https://signumuniversity.org/
About Signum University https://signumuniversity.org/about/
Signum University Graduate Program https://signumuniversity.org/admissio...
SPACE Signum Portals for Adult Continuing Education https://signumuniversity.org/space/

Events https://signumuniversity.org/event/

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468: SilmFilm 6-08: Beren and Lúthien – Part 2 Apr 15, 2022

Show notes

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467: Other Minds and Hands, Episode 5 Apr 03, 2022

Show notes

Other Minds and Hands: An Open and Friendly Discussion of Tolkien Adaptation, Episode 5,
recorded on March 30, 2022

Hosts:
Dr. Corey Olsen the Tolkien Professor
https://signumuniversity.org/director...
Dr. Maggie Parke
https://signumuniversity.org/director...

Events https://signumuniversity.org/event/

Support The Tolkien Professor

466: Other Minds and Hands, Episode 4 Mar 26, 2022

Show notes

Other Minds and Hands: An Open and Friendly Discussion of Tolkien Adaptation, Episode 4,
recorded on March 23, 2022

Today, Corey and Maggie are joined by our second special guest, not-so-clueless fangirl Helen from the Clueless Fangirl, and discuss Númenor in the #RingsOfPower adaptation.

Hosts:
Dr. Corey Olsen the Tolkein Professor
https://signumuniversity.org/director...
Dr. Maggie Parke
https://signumuniversity.org/director...

Episode guest:
Helen from The Clueless Fangirl
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvuc...
Twitter https://twitter.com/HelenaLahnstein

Dr. Corey Olsen is offering several free and open weekly and biweekly programs on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and other topics at Mythgard Institute. https://mythgard.org/
Those recordings can be found on this Signum University Youtube channel as well as on our podcasts.
https://mythgard.org/listen/
The audio versions of this show will be added to the Tolkien Professor podcast.

Events https://signumuniversity.org/event/

Support The Tolkien Professor

465: SilmFilm 6-07: Beren and Lúthien – Part 1 Mar 21, 2022

Show notes

Tonight we start on the Beren and Luthien story, and we decide the order of the first part of the season.

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464: Other Minds and Hands, Episode 3 Mar 20, 2022

Show notes

Today we pause to take a real look at the Rings of Power trailer -- not to speculate about events or to worry about details, but to consider themes and the larger story.

Other Minds and Hands: An Open and Friendly Discussion of Tolkien Adaptation, Episode 3,
recorded on March 16, 2022

Hosts:
Dr. Corey Olsen the Tolkein Professor
https://signumuniversity.org/director...
Dr. Maggie Parke
https://signumuniversity.org/director...

Events https://signumuniversity.org/event/

Support The Tolkien Professor

463: Other Minds and Hands, Episode 2 Mar 13, 2022

Show notes

Today we have both cohosts, and we are also joined by our first guest: Knewbettadobetta, whom you can follow on TikTok. Today we'll discuss the significance of background lore choices and what it means for an adaptation to be "faithful".

Other Minds and Hands: An Open and Friendly Discussion of Tolkien Adaptation, Episode 2,
recorded on March 9, 2022

Hosts:
Dr. Corey Olsen the Tolkein Professor
https://signumuniversity.org/director...
Dr. Maggie Parke
https://signumuniversity.org/director...

Episode guest:
Knewbettadobetta
Twitter https://twitter.com/Knewbettadobet1
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@knewbettadobetta
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/user/TheMight...

Events https://signumuniversity.org/event/

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462: SilmFilm 6-06: Nargothrond and Doriath Mar 09, 2022

Show notes

So how do we shape the Nargothrond and Doriath suplots of the Beren and Luthien story?

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461: Other Minds and Hands, Episode 1 Feb 27, 2022

Show notes

Other Minds and Hands: An Open and Friendly Discussion of Tolkien Adaptation, Episode 1,
recorded on February 23, 2022

In the first episode of Other Minds and Hands, Corey Olsen gives an introduction to Tolkien adaptation, starting with Tolkien’s vision for his legendarium from his famous Letter to Milton Waldman, and then addressing some of the widespread reactions to the upcoming Amazon adaptation.

Next episode will be at 4 pm US Eastern, Wednesday, March 9.

Dr. Corey Olsen the Tolkein Professor
https://signumuniversity.org/director...
Dr. Maggie Parke
https://signumuniversity.org/director...

We also provide affordable higher education and fun, engaging learning at Signum University. https://signumuniversity.org/
About Signum University https://signumuniversity.org/about/
Signum University Graduate Program https://signumuniversity.org/admissio...
SPACE Signum Portals for Adult Continuing Education https://signumuniversity.org/space/

Events https://signumuniversity.org/event/

Support The Tolkien Professor

460: SilmFilm 6-05: Glaurung, Thingol, and...? Feb 21, 2022

Show notes

So, what exactly is Glaurung up to during the Beren and Luthien story?

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