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Concerning “A Conspiracy Unmasked”, Book 1, Chapter 5 of The Lord of the Rings, in which our heroes decide to take a bath and the road less travelled…
On this episode, we continue our discussion of The Lord of the Rings with Book1, Chapter 5 of Fellowship, “A Conspiracy Unmasked”, in which Frodo, Sam, and Pippin enjoy a warm bath and decide to make their way to Bree via the ominous Old Forest. Chapter 5 stands out as the last “Shire” chapter, the deep breath before the hobbits plunge into epic danger and adventure. As such, it establishes the good things that the hobbits must leave behind in order to carry the Ring to safety. Chapter 5 ends with an account of Frodo’s numinous tower dream, which, although quite enigmatic, seems to hold a great deal of significance for Tolkien based upon its similarities to a pre-Hobbit work of his. Though not a lot of advancing action happens in Chapter 5, there’s still plenty to talk about, as is always the case with Tolkien.
Originally released: 7/10/2015.
Talking Tolkien is now known as The Tolkien Road.
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3 Responses
I’m listening to your podcast on Spotify – really enjoying it. In this episode you talk about the bath scene. I just spent 3 days freezing in the woods with my 2 sons (6 & 3) & husband. We came home and it was AMAZING to take a hot shower and be clean.
Haha – nothing like a hot bath or shower after hours in the freezing cold!
Also, thank you for going into the difference between the book Merry/Pippin & the movie. It always bothered me that Merry & Pippin were thrown into the movie without any preamble. They were the mischief makers at Bilbo’s party, and then get sucked into running from the black riders in Buckleberry.