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    Midwinter

    "So the date is chosen in the text for its out of story references, not for any in-story significance." I agree, but I think the significance is the opposite of the one sometimes assumed - ie I accept Tolkien's explanation that he chose to retain it in order to emphasise the non-christian (or...
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    Midwinter

    On this point, I'd like to quote Tolkien himself from : "As a matter of fact December 25th occurred strictly by accident, and I let it in to show that this was not a Christian myth anyhow. It was a purely unimportant date, and I thought, well, there it is, just an accident." So according to...
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    Delayed Spotify posting?

    I think the background music is intentional - is it from Lotro? If you're impatient waiting for the podcast releases you can always just listen to the YouTube versions which usually come quite promptly. One thing I would like would be edited audio podcasts without the fieldtrip (and maybe even...
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    No podcast episode update

    Check again. There was a hiatus but I got six new episodes recently.
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    Gandalf and Narya (Ep. 178)

    Listening to Ep. 178 on my way into work today I was interested in Corey's comment about the one place where he was sure Gandalf was using the power of Narya. The answer he gave - during the siege of Minas Tirith - was a good one, but it surprised me because I was certain he was going to say...
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    Legolas, light running, and the Fianna of Celtic myth

    I must admit my first point of comparison was the young Grasshopper (Kwai Chang Caine) having to walk over rice paper without breaking it in the old TV series "Kung Fu" :-) The analogy is silly, I admit, but it does at least raise the question of whether we can see Legolas' nixambulatory...
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    What is the Redhorn Gate?

    I wonder how "Redhorn Gate" is translated in various Scandinavian editions. Does Tolkien have anything to say on the subject in his notes for translators?
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    Why speculate about disembodied Nazgul occluding the stars when a Nazgul on a Fell Beast is a better supposition?

    When we get there, the discussion of the warg attack is going to be wild. I foresee several episodes on Gandalf's "Hound of Sauron" exclamation alone :)
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    What is the Redhorn Gate?

    But there are still "gatas" around in street names, aren't there - like Storgata, Torggata?
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    Why speculate about disembodied Nazgul occluding the stars when a Nazgul on a Fell Beast is a better supposition?

    We are, of course, explicitly told that the winged Nazgul will only cross the river for the War. But our source for this is not a particularly reliable one, so I don't think we can reject the idea on that ground alone. It could have been some sort of test flight. But if so, what was it doing? If...
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    What is the Redhorn Gate?

    In episode 243, Corey asks what exactly is the Redhorn Gate? Tolkien being Tolkien, I'd like to propose an etymological solution. The English word "gate", defined in the OED as "An opening in a wall, made for the purpose of entrance and exit, and capable of being closed by a movable barrier ..."...
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    Identification of Borgil as Mars

    Agreed. Since Borgil has a name, it is presumably a known object, not something unexpected like a comet or a nova. I have always thought that it must either be Aldebaran or Mars. Since Aldebaran lies close to the ecliptic it's hard to say which with certainty, at least from what's said in the...
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    Identification of Borgil as Mars

    I think it's a comet (or perhaps a nova or supernova). Comets and novae can appear anywhere in the sky, so there's no argument against it being low in the sky. The only other idea I can come up with is that it's Sirius, made to appear red by the dark arts of Sauron or Saruman.
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    Identification of Borgil as Mars

    Returning to this topic after a long absence, here for example is one of multiple comet/star references from the A-S Chronicle (for the year 975): I still cannot reconcile the description from "The Ring Goes South" with Mars. Frodo is observing close to midwinter when the Zodiac is at its...
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    Alice - All in the Golden Afternoon

    I have no special thoughts on the first episode of the Alice class so far, except to say that during the "wreath" discussion I couldn't get the line "And in a fading crown have twined the golden elanor" out of my head.
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    Sucking Teeth

    I agree with the interpretation of it as making a low tuneless whistling sound by sucking air in between the teeth. My interpretation is that Sam is actually showing a certain amount of impatience here, to go along with his general depression. In this moment I imagine him more than ever as...
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    Identification of Borgil as Mars

    But could any planet be described as "low in the South" during the winter months in mid-northern latitudes? My take is that since Borgil has already been named, Borgil must be a star known to the writer. Therefore the star Frodo sees must be a different one or it would simply have been named...
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    Frodo's Heart's Desire

    I don't think it's creepy but I think a general "lack of ambition" is a hobbit trait, one that Tolkien included deliberately, and not necessarily approvingly. He was often (eg in various letters) quite scathing about hobbits and hobbit culture - especially their willful ignorance and...
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    Sam and the Old Man Willow – #25

    Yes, and being a worker, he knows that you can't lie down and take a nap in the middle of the afternoon just because you're feeling a bit sleepy :) More seriously there are several other places in the story where Sam is shown to have preternatural powers to resist slumber - when watching over...
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    Identification of Borgil as Mars

    It strikes me as a odd that if the conversation with the Elves is so late at night that the Pleiades are "high in the East" that Aldebaran would still be just rising out of the mists. But if Aldebaran is already well up in the sky then Mars is the only obvious candidate for Borgil. But I think...
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