The Entmoot Podcast

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to William Fliss about Tolkien's manuscripts and life as an archivist. Bill Fliss is the Manuscripts Archivist at Marquette University, which places him among the foremost authorities in the world on Tolkien's manuscripts for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. He runs the Anduin Project at Marquette which is an invaluable tool for Tolkien researchers.Add your voice to the Tolkien Fandom Oral History Collection and tell Bill we sent you! More Bill:“Things That Were, and Things That Are, and Things That Yet May Be”: The J.R.R. Tolkien Manuscript Collection at Marquette University(Documentary) The Muster At Marquette: Preserving 6,000 Fan VoicesLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Professor Jyrki Korpua about the Kalevala and the inspiration that Tolkien drew from it. This episode is a companion piece to our previous episode on chapter 21 of The Silmarillion, which you can find here.Jyrki Korpua is a researcher and lecturer of literature at the University of Oulu in Finland. He has published extensively on both the Kalevala and Tolkien, and we are here primarily discussing his 2024 book Tolkien and the Kalevala.More Jyrki:The Mythopoeic Code of Tolkien: A Christian Platonic Reading of the Legendarium“Master of Fate, yet by fate mastered” – Tolkien’s Túrin Turambar and Kalevala’s KullervoAlso mentioned:Lönnrot (Bosley translation) - The KalevalaLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters 20 and 21 of the Quenta Silmarillion, which include an account of the Fifth Battle and the tragic tale of Turin Turambar.Primary sources: The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. TolkienBooks we've been reading:The Wages of DestructionRide The Pink HorseThe Long GoodbyeGileadThe Sot-Weed FactorThe Fort Bragg CartelThe Age of EmpireLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam joined friend of the show Ethan Colburn for an episode of the Cineflek Podcast about Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.For a great documentary with more information on the making of the movie, check out "An Exhaustive History of Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings" from Folding Ideas on YouTube.For more on adaptation rights to Tolkien's work, listen to our episode from earlier this year "State of the Estate."For more of our opinions on movies, you can follow each of us on Letterboxd: Ethan (an actual Letterboxd influencer), Kenny, Sam.Leave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Professor Cami Agan about the 2018 volume Beren and Luthien and about the textual history of the tale. This episode is a companion piece to our previous episode on chapter 19 of The Silmarillion, which you can find here.Cami Agan is the Distinguished Professor of Language and Literature at Oklahoma Christian University and a prominent scholar of Tolkien's First Age.More Cami:Lúthien Tinúviel and Bodily Desire in the Lay of LeithianCities and Strongholds of Middle-earthHearkening to the Other: A Certeauvian Reading of the AinulindaleAlso mentioned:Moore - A Song of Greater Power: Tolkien's Construction of Lúthien TinúvielWhitaker - Corrupting Beauty: Rape Narrative in The SilmarillionLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapter 19 of the Quenta Silmarillion, the incredible story of Beren and Luthien. Included is also a discussion of current events affecting Sam as a resident of Washington DC -- listeners with an allergy to that sort of thing can skip to 17:25 to get to "the good stuff." Primary sources: The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | Beren and Luthien | The Letters of J.R.R. TolkienLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Professor Bret Devereaux about the Siege of Gondor and the Battle of Helm's Deep, including discussions of pre-modern logistics, cavalry charges, flails, command structures, battle speeches, and much more.Bret Devereaux is an ancient and military historian who currently teaches as a Teaching Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University. You can find him on Twitter and Bluesky, or at his blog A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry.More Bret:Blog series on Siege of GondorBlog series on Helm's DeepBlog series on logisticsInterview with Patrick Wyman on the Punic WarsLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Ali Mirzabayati about death and mourning in Tolkien's work. Ali published his thesis Death as a Gift: A Heroic Celebration of Life in The Lord of the Rings in December 2024.Ali Mirzabayati is a scholar of medieval literature and modern fantasy, including Tolkien's legendarium.More Ali:Mourning and Melancholia in The Lord of the RingsSounds of Battle and Battle of Sounds: Belliphonic in TolkienBeowulf and Théoden: Differing Teaching Methods of Hrothgar and GandalfFurther reading/listening:Amendt-Raduege - The Sweet and the Bitter: Death and Dying in JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the RingsVaninskaya - Fantasies of Time and DeathFreud - On Murder, Mourning and MelancholiaLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Professor Lee Konstantinou about Tolkien's right-wing (or neo-reactionary) fans in Silicon Valley. Lee's essay Mythic Capital: How Tolkien is Whispering in the Ears of America's Most Powerful Men, is out now from Arc. Long-time listeners will know that this is our third time talking about this subject -- our first episode on the subject, from November 2022, can be found here, and our second, from July 2024 about then-VP nominee JD Vance, can be found here.Lee Konstantinou is a Professor of English at the University of Maryland whose writing has been featured in Slate, Arc, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among others.More Lee:Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, Strangers in a Strange Land: Science-fictional Notes on the "Abundance" AgendaCool Characters: Irony and American FictionSomething is Broken In Our Science FictionFurther reading/listening:Tally (Spectre, 8/24) - Tolkien's Deplorable CultusCanavan (Dissent, 1/25) - Tolkien Against The GrainKakutani (NYT, 5/25) - Why Silicon Valley's Most Powerful People Are So Obsessed With HobbitsDouthat (NYT, 6/25) (audio) - Peter Thiel and the AntichristGellman (The Atlantic, 11/23) - Peter Thiel is Taking A Break From DemocracyAlexander (Substack, 5/25) - Moldbug Sold OutGabor (Phenomenal World, 2/25) - How To DOGE USAIDLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters 17 and 18 of the Quenta Silmarillion, including the coming of men into Beleriand, the death of Fingolfin, and Hurin and Huor's visit to Gondolin.Primary sources: The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. TolkienLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Professor Robert Tally about his new book The Mismeasure of Orcs: A Critical Reassessment of Tolkien's Demonized Creatures, out now from McFarland Books.Robert Tally is a Professor of English at Texas State University. He's written extensively about Tolkien and Marxist literary criticism.More Rob:Representing Middle-earth: Tolkien, Form, and IdeologyJRR Tolkien's The Hobbit: A Critical CompanionLet Us Now Praise Famous Orcs: Simple Humanity in Tolkien's Inhuman CreaturesDemonizing The Enemy, Literally: Tolkien, Orcs, and the Sense of the World WarsThe Southern Phoenix Triumphant: Richard Weaver, or, the Origins of Contemporary U.S. ConservatismAlso mentioned:Bould/Mieville (ed.) - Red Planets: Marxism and Science FictionCroft et. al (ed.) - Tolkien in the New Century: Essays in Honor of Tom ShippeyFonstad - Atlas of Middle-EarthJameson - Archaeologies of the FutureJameson - Fables of AggressionJameson - The Political UnconsciousLukas - The Historical NovelMills - The Wretched of Middle-Earth: An Orkish ManifestoMohler (Existential Comics) - The Council of ElrondSofge - Orc HolocaustStuart - Tolkien, Race, and Racism in Middle-EarthLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Professor Stephen Yandell about Beowulf and the many ways it inspired Tolkien.Steve Yandell is a medievalist and Tolkien scholar who has been a Professor of English at Xavier University since 2003. He regularly teaches courses on both Tolkien and medieval literature, including Beowulf.More Steve:"A Pattern Which Our Nature Cries Out For": The Medieval Tradition of the Ordered Four in the Fiction of J.R.R. TolkienCruising Faery: Queer Desire in Giles, Niggle, and SmithSelection from Math Son of Mathonwy, from the MabinogiThe translations:Tolkien - Beowulf: A Translation and CommentaryHeaney - Beowulf: A New Verse TranslationHeadley - Beowulf: A New TranslationPrimary sources:Tolkien - Beowulf: The Monsters and The Critics (PDF)The Lord of the RingsThe SilmarillionAlso mentioned:Howarth - 1066: The Year of the ConquestLeyerle - The Interlace Structure of BeowulfLeave us a review! Email us at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters 15 and 16 of the Quenta Silmarillion, including the founding of Gondolin, Thingol's abolition of Quenya, and the tragic tale of Eöl, Beleriand's palest and weirdest elf.Primary sources: The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. TolkienAlso mentioned:The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le GuinThe Summer Book - Tove JanssonButcher's Crossing - John WilliamsAlchemy is realLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Professor Robin Reid about feminist and queer Tolkien scholarship and fandom.Robin Reid is a Tolkien scholar who was a professor of English at Texas A&M University until her retirement in 2020. She is currently working on a book that will be a feminist reception study of women and non-binary readers of Tolkien, with updates posted on her Substack here.More Robin:Women & Tolkien: Amazons, Valkyries, Feminists, and SlashersJ.R.R. Tolkien, Culture WarriorThrusts in the Dark: Slashers' Queer PracticesSources/mentions:Brown - “Éowyn it was, and Dernhelm also”Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A BiographyCraig - Queer Lodgings: Gender and Sexuality in The Lord of the RingsCrowe - Power in Arda: Sources, Uses, and MisusesDonovan - The Valkyrie Reflex in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the RingsFimi - Tolkien, Folklore, and Foxes (YouTube)Kisor/Vaccaro (ed) - Tolkien and AlterityMerrick - The Secret Feminist Cabal: A Cultural History of Science Fiction FeminismsQueripel - The Mariner (and his wife): Rethinking Aldarion's (A)sexualityRateliff - The Missing Women: J. R. R. Tolkien's Lifelong Support for Women's Higher EducationSmith - At Home and Abroad: Éowyn's Two-fold Figuring as War Bride in The Lord of the RingsTimmons - Hobbit Sex and SensualityVaccaro - “Dyrne Langað”: Secret Longing and Homo-amory in Beowulf and J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the RingsWalls-Thumma - The Inequality Prototype: Gender, Inequality, and the Valar in Tolkien’s SilmarillionEmail us at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters 13 and 14 of the Quenta Silmarillion, including the death of Feanor, the reuniting of the Noldor, and a very long description of a map. To make "Of Beleriand and Its Realms" a bit easier to digest, here are a couple maps: this one by Tolkien himself, this "cleaner" one by Sirelle on DeviantArt, and this political map by u/tolkien_erklaert on Reddit.Primary sources: The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. TolkienAlso mentioned:Atlas of Middle-Earth - Karen Wynn FonstadThe Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien - John GarthThe Verge - Patrick WymanLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters 10, 11, and 12 of the Quenta Silmarillion, including King Thingol of the Sindar, the creation of the sun and moon, and the coming of men (finally).Primary sources: The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. TolkienLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss Tolkien's love of trees and the environment.Primary sources: The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion | The Letters of J.R.R. TolkienSecondary sources:Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A BiographyCurry - Defending Middle-EarthKocher - Master of Middle-EarthHull (Reactor Mag) - The Long Defeat: Reading Tolkien in the Time of Climate ChangeWikipedia - Environmentalism in The Lord of the RingsMore reading:Pope Francis - Laudato SiDemsas (The Atlantic) - The Culture War Tearing American Environmentalism ApartSolis (Nevada Current) - Solar power project threatens prime desert tortoise habitat, conservationists warnRuhl & Salzman - The Greens' Dilemma: Building Tomorrow's Climate Infrastructure TodayOur earlier episode on Aule and YavannaLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Professor Gerry Canavan in a far-reaching conversation about loving Tolkien as leftists. Topics include Tolkien's racial politics, the political valences of science fiction and fantasy, Tolkien's abandoned Lord of the Rings sequel, and of course, Huan the talking dog.Gerry Canavan is the Chair of the English Department at Marquette University where he also teaches a class on Tolkien. His essays on Tolkien include Tolkien Against The Grain in the Winter 2025 issue of Dissent Magazine and The Eowyn Mystique, a review of the new animated film "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" for the Los Angeles Review of Books.More Gerry:Octavia E. Butler (University of Illinois Press)Imagining Utopia (article for Verso on Fredric Jameson)The lesson of JRR Tolkien's abandoned Lord of the Rings sequel (article for Washington Post)Grad School Vonnegut/Achebe podcastTwitterPrimary sources:The Hobbit | The Lord of the Rings | The SilmarillionSecondary sources:Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A BiographyGarth - Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-EarthMills - The Wretched of Middle-Earth: An Orkish ManifestoLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss the history of adaptation rights to Tolkien's work.Sources:The Tolkien Trust and their financesThe Times - Tolkien sold film rights to Lord of the rings to avoid taxmanJohn Boorman and Rospo Pallenberg - Screenplay for The Lord of the Rings (1970)The Guardian - The saddest story in rock (The Zaentz/Fogerty scandal)Dan Olson [VIDEO] - An Exhaustive History of Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the RingsOpen Culture - The 1985 Soviet TV Adaptation of The Hobbit: Cheap and Yet Strangely CharmingCharlie Rose (ew) [VIDEO] - 2002 Interview w/ Peter JacksonThe Guardian - Tolkien estate sues Hobbit producers over video and gambling gamesJonathan Stempel (Reuters) - Weinstein brothers sue Time Warner over Hobbit filmsThe Hollywood Reporter - Warner Bros prevails over Weinsteins in Hobbit profit fightArs Technica - Amazon will run a multi-season Lord of the Rings prequel TV seriesLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapter nine of the Quenta Silmarillion, including Feanor's ascendancy to Noldoran leader, the death of Ungoliant, and the First Kinslaying.Primary sources: The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. TolkienLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.