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I also think that Saruman's spirit diffuses, with some help I see three options for the Valar with respect to Saruman's spirit: 1. Bring it to the West for healing and forgiveness, and assumption of a new form as required. 2. Prevent it's movement West, but allow it to remain coherent such that...

I think a combinatory interpretation is possible: The Breelanders never see him involved in the traditional honest activities that allow a person to support themselves, yet he often has the means to pay for his bed and board. This inspires thoughts of him dishonestly coming by the means, most...

I’d suggest that it is an implied requirement, given the name of the quest. The destination is set in advance, but the path to take is not.

Same here. As the rope-walk is a relatively old means of making rope I think we can forgive ourselves ;-)

From another perspective, if you were telling a story of the experiences of one particular company of Polish soldiers in North Africa during World War II, you wouldn't expect to hear much, if anything, of the happenings in North or South America. So, for LOTR, perhaps it's safer to describe it...

It's impossible to give an answer without engaging in conjecture, but some possibilities: 1. Too shy (as you've identified) 2. Embarrassed to ask after Boromir's horn incident 3. Assumes that his request would not be met, as he is only a servant 4. He doesn't want to delay the departure on his...

Trilogy? So we are only going halfway through the work? LOTR is the Foreword, 5 prologues, 6 books, and 6 appendices published in anywhere between 1 and 7 volumes.

A small error there; the full description is: Argent being the heraldic term for metallic silver, and also white, coming from the Latin Argentum (silver, or white metal.) The unanswered question is whether he would wear the heraldry of the Steward (an office he did not hold) or that of Gondor...

Sorry, I think he sees further ahead than you give him credit for. Even leaving Rivendell I think he recognises the peril they all face on the road and that he might have to alter his plans. Of the company that leaves Rivendell I think there are three members who truly believe that they must...

If you view them in those terms I can understand your interpretation, but I think that is too simplistic. For Aragorn, simple survival of battle isn't success. He takes the Host of the West to the Morannon as a final all-in gamble, and he is not walking away from that battle except victorious...

I agree that he is not going out seeking death in a reckless self-destructive way like Eowyn, but at the same time I think his attitude can be captured by a lyric fragment from The Power and the Passion, a song by Midnight Oil "It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees". So, he...

A very old sword carried by a line of people of little note, is of lesser lineage than a relatively new sword carried by a line of great heroes doing great deeds with it. As the greatness of deeds in Middle Earth tend to be on a descending scale, older swords have a higher likelihood of being...

I'd suggest that in Bree there is distrust, but not active persecution of Rangers; if there were active persecution I'd expect a lynch mob gathered outside the Prancing Pony calling for the Ranger to be handed over after the horses were scattered, or at the very least all Rangers in town to be...

Session 213 is also currently the last one available on the Apple podcast feed. I’d suggest there’s been something of a delay in processing episodes for publication over the holiday period.

Both Sauron and Saruman were of the people of Aulë, so yes some cheering up is definitely needed. He nearly fell into ruin with the creation of the Dwarves, so I think he would have hoped that his example would have served to show his people what appropriate humility looks like; but then maybe...

I think the outlier might have fallen from a group preventing a flanking manoeuvre.

Maybe, but if the Dwarven mythology is correct, then Mahal (Aulë) can visit Gimli in the Halls set aside for the Dwarven spirits after his death.

Well, the crime of the Numenoreans was to go there against an express ban, the stated reason for the ban being that Valinor was too much for mortals. The ‘many’ Mortals being allowed to go to Valinor now are the former Ringbearers and Gimli. I think in every case the allowance into Valinor was...

I think all of them, to the Free People to come after them. This is in much the same way that soldiers holding a desperate position with no hopes of relief can be messengers to us, even if none of them survive. The message being that standing against evil is always the right thing to do, even...

It did get mentioned, at least in the Discord, but it didn’t get the full treatment. One of the clear markers of this is the way Bilbo couldn’t finish his sentence about finishing the story when Frodo gets back. What I got from that is Bilbo recognizing the peril that Frodo is heading into...