Episode 12 << Click to Listen

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The Tolkien Professor, Corey Olsen, joins us to talk about Tolkien, Medieval literature, and whether Balrogs have wings.

Panel Topic: Tolkien

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Introduction

0:00 Introduction by Tor.com

0:37 Dave and John introduce the show

Interview: Corey Olsen

02:22 Interview begins

02:39 How Corey got interested in Medieval literature, and the Medieval spirit of Tolkien

04:58 Chronological snobbery and other common misconceptions about the Medieval world

07:47 Who takes a class on Tolkien?

09:44 Tolkien and war

10:57 Themes in Tolkien’s work

11:54 J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by Tom Shippey–is Tolkien the most important author of the 20th century?

12:29 Is George R.R. Martin really “the American Tolkien”?

15:38 Do Balrogs have wings? Paying attention to what is on the page

17:35 Dave’s mom has a complaint that is totally legitimate unless you happen to be a linguist

19:04 Regarding Tom Bombadil

21:02 The Professor weighs in on the movies

29:58 Books and conferences the aspiring Tolkien scholar should know about, including The Festival in the Shire and MythCon

33:09 End of interview

Dave and John discuss all things Hobbit

33:10 Proper pronunciation, and Dave’s adventures in trying to teach Tolkien

35:16 Fantasy languages: world-building from the ground up

37:04 Introducing young people to fantasy literature via Tolkien, and how to make people aware of the existing short fiction market

38:37 John’s take on the “author of the century” label for Tolkien

40:45 If sexy elves and space marines didn’t exist, would it be necessary to invent them?

45:13 Almost a decade later, the guys talk about the Peter Jackson films, and get a little misty about the dungeon crawl in Fellowship

51:37 The importance of Gandalf’s death and what it can teach new writers

53:52 The new Hobbit movie vs. the original Hobbit

01:07:19 There and Back Again, and Ralph Bakshi’s animated version of The Hobbit

01:11:47 Regarding George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones coming to HBO, and retrofitting the mythology of an author’s first story into a later epic

01:15:11 Avatar: The Last Airbender as an example of great world-building–join us at Tor.com for the Rewatch!

01:16:29 Show wrap-up

Next week: John Langan, author of House of Windows!

Thanks for listening!

Show notes compiled by podtern Christie Yant. Friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.