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Hi 14detail, The comment thread on Exploring Lord of the Rings does not have much name calling and mudslinging associated. However, it is not mainly on You Tube either. The main live commentary is on the Discord server. If you are trying to catch up, like Willomir, I don't think it would be...

Good fortune, and lots of enjoyment on your worthy quest.

Hi Willomir, Yes, this forum is a good place to both register your own opinions on previous episodes, and also see what other people's reaction to those episodes was. Hope you enjoy it, and contribute!

"Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must." Elrond said this near the conclusion of the Council. Is Merry's question, "What does it mean by speak, friend, and enter?" the first action since leaving Rivendell (rather veiled)...

Frodo asks that question. "Why did you do that, Boromir"? Boromir does not answer. So, why did he do it? Boromir is 'spooked' by the pool. He fears it (for no rational reason). He just has a feeling that it is ominous. "How I hate this foul pool!" Boromir is also anxious and frustrated...

Or, logically (colloquially?), the sentence can (should?) be parsed as, "Only Aragorn was silent" AND "Only Aragorn was unmoved". Thus, on this interpretation of the word 'and', no one else was silent, and no one else was unmoved.

Boromir, a man of action, might have stressed the 'do'. Gandalf, a wizard of estel, is far more likely to have stressed the 'given'.

I would guess that the dot is an extraneous artifact of 'Tolkien Gateway's' scanning process.

Corey's slide seemed to show a possible 'dot' over the tengwar 'd' near the bottom of the picture. This was briefly discussed as possibly representing an 'i'. In the printed early editions there is no sign of such a 'dot'. I consider that the 'dot' does not exist (should not exist), and is...

The early editions had 'given us', not 'given to us'. (All my editions, which are early, have 'given us'.) So, if there are any editions which print 'given to us', I would consider them a later editorial or typesetters error.

Hi 'Like a Flash of White Fire', Interesting interpretation. A Flash of white fire could indicate a spiritual defence. But, I'm not sure that it does. "as with a last spurt, like a flash of white fire, the elf-horse speeding as if on wings, passed right before the face of the foremost Rider."...

Hi Gorhendad The Old, You are correct that JRRT said that in an interview. However, later, writing in 'Nomenclatura' (his guide to translators on how to translate TLOTR into other languages) he said "December 25 (the date of setting out) and March 25 (the completion of the quest) were both...

An illustration of the pitfalls of reading 'too closely'. 10 minutes were spent discussing whether there was a drop to the left of the road the company was on or a rise. If one reads on 6 sentences, one finds, "but the main road wound away left and climbed with several loops up to the level...

Grim: While today it might be used to mean stern, or mirthless, or dire, in the Northern tradition, beloved of Tolkien, and the tradition of Kingly Grimness, I think it also carries the implication of resolution in the face of dire or dangerous probabilities. An example is from "The Battle of...

Elrond's actual statement at the Council was, "If any of the Wise should with this Ring overthrow the Lord of Mordor, using his own arts, he would then set himself on Sauron's throne, and yet another Dark Lord would appear." This leaves room for several interpretations by Boromir, which he...

Hi Doc Singles, Wouldn't an Elvish Ring of Power created by the Noldor prefer thinking and speaking in Quenya?

Denethor implies that he first learned of Aragorn through naive slips of the tongue by Pippin. "And yet in our speech together (with Pippin) I have learned the names and purpose of all thy companions. So! with the left hand thou wouldst use me for a little while as a shield against Mordor, and...

Yes, Celebrimbor is the most obvious source of Ring-lore. However, at the time of TLOTR, he was not available. Gandalf never met Celebrimbor. Nor did Saruman. The possible sources who might have heard directly from Celebrimbor are Galadriel, Elrond, and Cirdan (though possibly other Elves...

The other obvious sources of Ring-lore, besides Saruman, are Elrond and Galadriel. Both have Rings of Power of their own, (and have had them longer than Gandalf has). Galadriel presumably had her Ring when Sauron tried to use the One to 'find, bring, and bind', all the other Rings, so, though...

Good questions Calaparmo. I see this as Gandalf causing inferences (deliberately) which go beyond what he actually states. A clear plural, referring to all Rings of Power would have been to say, "Rings of Power look after themselves." "A Ring of Power looks after itself," is ambiguous. The...