Recent content by dietlbomb

  1. dietlbomb

    Hylomorphism redux

    One small comment regarding a discussion in episode 148. Forth Dauntless wondered whether the ring is a spiritual ring instead of a physical ring. This immediately brought to my mind the idea of hylomorphism. Hylomorphism is an idea from Aristotle's (and St. Thomas's) metaphysics that any object...
  2. dietlbomb

    The feats of Celeborn, redux

    Let's not forget that Celeborn is Arwen's grandfather. That's no small feat!
  3. dietlbomb

    Feed borked again?

    Thanks for getting this fixed, anonymous podcast engineers!
  4. dietlbomb

    The irony of Isildur's weregild statement

    The idea behind weregild is that by paying the fine, the accused would be exempted retaliation. Although Isildur and his posse had just overthrown Sauron, Sauron wasn't actually eradicated. Isildur could have destroyed Sauron for good by destroying the ring. In this sense, Isilsur's taking of...
  5. dietlbomb

    New Recording of Sam's Troll Song

    Hi Prof. Olsen, I finally finished recording my bluegrass arrangement of Sam's troll song. It's on youtube here: Troll Song Enjoy!
  6. dietlbomb

    A first-time reader's context for Númenor

    I just listened to episode 115 and half of 116, and was going to mention that a first-time reader of the Fellowship of the Ring might have recognized Numenor from That Hideous Strength. I forget how much description of Numenor, its inhabitants, and its history Lewis gave us though.
  7. dietlbomb

    Frodo's suitable chair

    Perhaps Frodo's chair was a chair designed for dwarves. Presumably dwarves visit Rivendell more frequently than hobbits, so it would be polite of Elrond to have dwarf chairs available. Hobbits are shorter than dwarves, however, so Frodo would need the cushions as an additional boost.
  8. dietlbomb

    Proportional navigation

    I used to work for a company that manufactures missiles. Unlike rockets, missiles have the ability to change their trajectory to hit their target. The simplest algorithm used in missile guidance systems is called proportional navigation. Using proportional navigation, the guidance system steers...
  9. dietlbomb

    Another idea about the boulders

    What if the boulders and the white riders were just different aspects of one underlying reality? Gandalf used his power to increase the flood's force. To us, Gandalf's abilities are strange and opaque. Perhaps Gandalf's attack wasn't either boulders or white riders, but something deeper. The...
  10. dietlbomb

    All that is gold does not glitter

    In modern English, the sentence "All that is gold does not glitter" implies that if something is gold, it would not glitter. This is clearly false, even in the text of the Lord of the Rings (the Ring glitters). So it's obvious what Bilbo means is that not everything that is gold glitters. Is...
  11. dietlbomb

    Were Gandalf and Elrond at the Ford?

    The description of the encounter at the end of Flight to the Ford is clearly from Frodo's perspective. We speculated that Asfaloth may have stopped on the bank of the river because the Witch King commanded him, because Frodo probably didn't stop him, and the rest of Frodo's party was out of...
  12. dietlbomb

    Rog

    So the point is that he's a blank slate upon which we can craft an interesting story? I like!
  13. dietlbomb

    Rog

    Who is Rog? I just listened to session 4.01 and Rog was mentioned, but I had never heard of this character before.
  14. dietlbomb

    Out-of-Order Storytelling

    Some of us never agreed to that! The hosts imposed that condition on us (and also the severely detrimental 13 episode per season limit). Besides, the frame is supposed to make nonlinear storytelling easier, not more confusing. The characters in the frame are there to acquaint the audience with...
  15. dietlbomb

    Nazgul Perception

    Later on in the story we learn that the black riders have quite good eyesight, except it's only good in the wraith world. While Frodo is suffering from the Morgul blade's wound, he is moving into the wraith world, so much that by the time he encounters the black riders at the Ford of Bruinen, he...
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