middle-earth

For our first episode of 2024, we take a look through the Quick Post as Alicia is joined by 'Producer' Tim to recount the highlights of their December trip to New Zealand in December to a decidedly jealous Grace and Leah. Then we excitedly gush together about the upcoming online seminar we're hosting on Feb 17th-18th, 'Something Mighty Queer', featuring many of our pals and past podcast guests. We hope to see you there, Lodgers and Birches! To finish off, we summarize some recent developments in Tolkien scholarship, including a run of excellent and much-needed work by Tom Emanuel, some wonderful pieces by our friends in a recent issue of Mallorn, and also one obnoxious article that will not go unchallenged.

Register for the Mythopoeic Society's Online Midwinter Seminar 'Something Mighty Queer' here: https://mythsoc.org/oms/oms-2024.htm

We have a special treat for you this month - Leah, Alicia, and Grace welcome not one... not two... but three guests! They are the editors of the forthcoming edited anthology '"There Are Many Paths to Tread": Queer Approaches to Tolkien's Middle-earth' from McFarland (due to release in 2025), and each is a well-known Tolkien scholar in their own right - Robin Reid, Chris Vaccaro, and Steve Yandell. Join us as we discuss the landscape of Queer and Intersectional Tolkien studies, why they're important, and what these important and fresh outlooks can contribute to Tolkien scholarship.

Queer Lodgings is one year old! Help Grace, Leah, and Alicia mark the occasion with a bit of reflection of the first year of the podcast as Tim asks a few questions about their experience thus far. We also share some teasers of what listeners can expect in our second year and beyond, and share some laughs over failed attempts of auto-transcription at Tolkienian names. Plus, learn how listeners can convince the co-hosts to do readings from Demetrious Polychron's terrible knock-off Lord of the Rings sequel!

Thanks for joining us on this journey over the past year, and we hope you'll continue on this path with us for many more!

Welcome to the thirty-second episode of The Daily Rings of Power Podcast!

The podcast is back again... for a second return from the dead! 

This episode is slightly different than our usual format as I dive into a comparison between Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer and Tolkien's legendarium, taking aim at the theme of creators and their creations.

We explore what parallels exist between Nolan's depiction of Oppenheimer and Tolkien's own mythical creators, seeing where they fit the Promethean model, and how all creators lose control over their creations.

I hope you enjoy this diversion from our usual format, but we'll back in the future with our usual analysis of The Rings of Power as we look ahead to Season 2!

Follow us on Twitter for more Rings of Power content: @DailyRoP

Intro & Outro Music :
She Moved Through the Fair by Sláinte | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte 
Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ 
Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

We're back! In this new series of episodes, Alica, Grace, and Leah tackle the criticism that "Tolkien would hate this podcast" for a whole host of reasons: We (and our listeners) are too Queer, too Progressive, not Catholic enough, too 'woke', or too willing to accept multiple and even contradictory readings. In this first episode of a series, we talk about Tolkien’s attitudes about his fans, reader interpretation/response to his works, and adaptation.

To celebrate our first 'Tolkien Reading Day' as a podcast, we each chose a favourite poem from Tolkien to read. Grace selected 'The Mewlips' (1962), Alicia chose 'Progress in Bimble Town' (1931), and Leah's pick was 'Errantry' (1933).

To celebrate Black History Month, we welcome Tolkien scholars Megan B. Abrahamson and Maria K. Alberto for a discussion on their in-progress research into Black fan art depictions of the elf Fingon. In between Fëanorian apologia, they share what inspired Tumblr artists to break with the 'default' depiction of Tolkien's elves as light-skinned.

Note: We experienced some intermittent audio issues while recording this episode. Please excuse the audio quality in places.

We're back for our first episode of 2023! Leah, Grace, and Alicia welcome on new friend-of-the-podcast Taylor Driggers, author of 'Queering Faith in Fantasy Literature: Fantastic Incarnations and the Deconstruction of Theology', to discuss the intersections between faith, fantasy, and queerness. Get ready for discussion of the history of queerness and the influence of christianity upon it, queer readings of Tolkien, and some recommendations for new queer fantasy.

Happy Holidays from your friends at Seven Stars, Seven Siblings, and One White Tree! On today's episode we discuss different passages from Tolkien that remind us of Christmas. Just in time for getting nestled all snug in your Hobbit sized bed, and waiting for the visions of Lembas Bread to dance in your heads!

You can find Daily Rings of Power: Twitter

Music by: purple-planet.com

Additional music by: pixabay.com

As our special holiday gift to our listeners, Alicia, Grace, and Leah take a look at a lighter topic of Tolkien fandom - fan fiction. In particular, the festive pairing of 'Silvergifting'... that's Sauron/Celebrimbor, for the uninitiated. After some introduction to fan fiction and its history, we engage in a few dramatic readings of Silvergifting fics. Let's just say we really earn the 'Explicit' tag this episode, and uncover a disappointing lack of 'creative' uses of Rings of Power with this pairing.

Welcome to the thirtieth episode of The Daily Rings of Power Podcast!

The podcast finally returns! We're back to cover the exciting release of our first behind-the-scenes content for Season 1! We cover all the interesting details from production, cast interviews and look forward to what other behind-the-scenes goodies we might have to look forward to.

Follow us on Twitter for more Rings of Power content: @DailyRoP

Intro & Outro Music :
She Moved Through the Fair by Sláinte | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte 
Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ 
Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Hey... do you have a Harfoot shaped hole in your life? Are you feeling more like a shapeless, formless disembodied spirit instead of a fair form ready to decieve elves and men alike? Are your Friday nights now dull and colorless? Do you feel you too might fade away without the help of a strange added plot point involving precious metals? Do all your days feel like Wandering Days since mid October?

In short... are you missing Rings of Power? Then, fear not! We are here to give you some ideas of other Tolkien things to help tide you over until the new season (or other Tolkien content) comes out! I mean... Power Metal and Baseball! What could be better??

Music by: purple-planet.com 

Welcome to the twenty-ninth episode of The Daily Rings of Power Podcast!

We're back with our in-depth breakdown of Episode 8 of The Rings of Power: Alloyed

I was lucky enough to be joined one final time by Anna (@myelessar)

This discussion covers the big reveals from the finale. Anna and I go head-to-head over the big Sauron reveal, we share our love for the Stranger and the Harfoots and we give our final rating for the finale.

We also answer listener questions throughout and then turn to our listeners' final questions about Season 1 and look ahead to Season 2!

Follow us on Twitter for more Rings of Power content: @DailyRoP

Follow Anna on Twitter: @MyElessar

And subscribe to the podcast on your favourite app: https://linktr.ee/dailyrop

Intro & Outro Music :
She Moved Through the Fair by Sláinte | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte 
Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ 
Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Alicia & Tim share their experiences from their first time attending 'A Long-Expected Party' at the Pleasant Hill Shaker Village in Kentucky with Grace and Leah, and recount how they were pleasantly surprised to find it to be quite a Queer event! Then we check our mailbox for the first edition of the 'Shire Quick Post', to discuss some recent happenings in the world of Tolkien - some troubling, others inspiring.

Intro/Outro music is 'Who Would Have Thought' by Crowander.

With only two more episodes remaining in the first season of Rings Of Power, we thought we'd take a second to give some of our thoughts. But more importantly we're here to get to the bottom of one of the show's big mysteries: Who is that red-eyed, evil-loving, jewelry enthusiast who wants nothing more than to cover all the lands in a second darkness - Sauron!

SPOILER ALERT for Rings of Power Episodes 1-6

Music by purple-planet.com

In our first 'Queer Readings' episode, Leah, Grace, and Alicia dive deep into one of the most complex characters that Tolkien could never quite make up his mind about: Galadriel, Lady of Lothlórien. We dig deep into the lore to uncover the queer identity and relationships of the mightiest and fairest Elf in the Third Age, and get nerdy about language and gender roles.

*SPOILER WARNING* This show contains spoilers for the first three episodes of Rings of Power. Listen at your own spoilery risk.

It has arrived! Amazon's new Lord of the Rings show "Rings of Power" is out now! On today's show we're joined by Harry from the Daily Rings Of Power Twitter and Podcast. He and the Siblings give their thoughts of the first three episodes of the show, address some questions people have, and give you all the reasons why Celeborn is The Worst.

You can find Harry on twitter at @DailyRoP

You can find his podcast "Daily Rings Of Power" wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.

Music by: purple-planet.com

Grace hosts our 'official' first episodes with Alicia, Leah, and Tim, as they properly introduce themselves to the audience. Everyone recounts their history with Tolkien's legendarium, and shares personal experiences and interactions with Tolkien fandom & scholarship. We wrap up with a summary of why 'Queer Lodgings' exists, some of our goals for the podcast, and tease some future episode topics - some intense, some decidedly more 'fluffy'!

Intro music: 'Who Would Have Thought' by Crowander

Welcome to the twenty-first episode of The Daily Rings of Power Podcast!

As if a spoiler-free and a spoiler-filled review of the opening episodes of The Rings of Power wasn't enough, I return with our first ever in-depth breakdown.

I knew I couldn't do this alone and was lucky enough to be joined by good friend and queen of Tolkien Twitter: Anna (@myelessar)

This discussion covers everything from our favourite storylines, speculation and theories about where the show is going; as well as our critiques of the parts of Episodes 1& 2 that we didn't like.

Follow us on Twitter for more Rings of Power content: @DailyRoP

Follow Anna on Twitter: @MyElessar

And subscribe to the podcast on your favourite app: https://linktr.ee/dailyrop

Intro & Outro Music :
She Moved Through the Fair by Sláinte | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte 
Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ 
Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Welcome to the twentieth episode of The Daily Rings of Power Podcast!

We are finally here. The first two episodes of The Rings of Power have been released.

Now that everyone has had a chance to watch them, I wanted to give you my full spoiler review of 'A Shadow of the Past' and 'Adrift'

I cover the overarching story arcs, talk about my favourite elements and also discuss some interesting details I picked up on

I'll also be doing an in-depth breakdown of these two episodes and answering listener questions in the next episode.

Follow us on Twitter for more Rings of Power content: @DailyRoP

And subscribe to the podcast on your favourite app: https://linktr.ee/dailyrop

Intro & Outro Music :
She Moved Through the Fair by Sláinte | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte 
Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ 
Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/