The Prancing Pony Podcast

Saruon had never paid heed to the halflings, even if he had heard of them — and Matt still doesn’t pay heed to Alan, even if he works with him. Join The Man of the West and The Nerd of the Rings as we begin our four-part dive into the chapter The Hunt for the Ring from Unfinished Tales. Sauron hesitates to unleash his most powerful servants; the Witch-king is workin’ on a mystery, goin’ wherever it leads; and Saruman felt so good, like anything was possible — he’s just wrong. We decide that we won’t walk 900 miles with a Gollum in our bag, imagine that Sauron has short little T-Rex arms, and wonder if traveling naked is really the best idea. Also, an idea for a new carnival snack.
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Join The Man of the West as he welcomes The Nerd of the Rings for his run of episodes this season by throwing him into the deep end of a Live Q&A in the PPP Common Room for our 34th Questions After Nightfall! Matt and Alan decide to crash several legendarium weddings, but we skip Túrin’s: we know too much. We answer an interesting question about what the Tolkien fandom will look like in 500 years, decide to film a documentary in Rivendell, and argue whether being voted your school’s “safest driver” is an insult.
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Treebeard and the unnamed King of Lórien set bounds between them; Alan and James clearly know no bounds. Join The Man of the West and The Sage of the South as we conclude our six-episode look at The History of Galadriel and Celeborn in Unfinished Tales. Fangorn will walk where he wants to; of the Gwathló, we learn that the river is wide and it’s too hard to cross (especially in the middle of the night); Celeborn is (we guess) surprised to find the meaning of his name has been changed. We imagine Treebeard on the local HOA board, ask what Tolkien meant by Númenórean power arriving “in time”, and observe a real missed opportunity by Amazon for product placement. Also: the given names of Elves, and… George Foreman?
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Of the Elessar two things are said, though which is true only those Wise could say who now are gone — to paraphrase Merry, “that leaves us out, James”. Join The Man of the West and The Sage of the South as we return from our short break from The History of Galadriel and Celeborn to study a green gem and learn more about the Silvan Elves. Enerdhil becomes Sir-Not-Appearing-In-This-Book, Gandalf plays the part of a carnival magician, and Galadriel relishes being a big fish in a small pond. We wonder if “brooch” hid under the couch during the Great Vowel Shift, agree that good fences make good neighbors, and discover that Celebrimbor has been a fool for lesser things. Also: good neighbors don’t make good fences. 
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Join us all in the Common Room for the Prancing Pony Podcast’s 11th annual Tolkien Reading Day special. Tolkien Reading Day is observed every March 25 in honor of the destruction of the Ring and the downfall of Barad-dûr. This year’s theme, as chosen by the Tolkien Society, is Unlikely Heroes — which describes each of the co-hosts who’ve joined with The Man of the West to present readings that showcase this year’s theme. Matt calls ‘dibs’, Don’s hero is a bird, Sara surprisingly doesn’t choose Aldarion, Shawn finds two heroes to thwack the Fëanor-shaped piñata, while James and Alan really aren’t crying at all, at all.
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