[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the Lord of the Rings lorecast.
[SPEAKER_00]: The show that explores the background of Tolkien's amazing world, from the very beginning.
[SPEAKER_00]: In today's episode we finish off chapter ten and we begin chapter eleven kind of span a little bit of both of those and something that I want you to keep in mind here as we go through this content is that the dwarves in Bilbo are finally getting close to their destination and yet they don't seem to have much of a plan
[SPEAKER_00]: There's this idea that they will arrive at the mountain and that they will somehow figure out where this hidden door is.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then once they figure out where the hidden door is, they will figure out if the dragon is still in the mountain.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if the dragon is still in the mountain,
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, then what?
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't really have methods or weapons for taking down a dragon.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then in the history of Middle-Earth, there are only a few who have actually been capable of this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Very rare individuals like Turin Turambar.
[SPEAKER_00]: But do they have a Turin with them?
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, some of the dwarves are great fighters and have been in conflicts.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Bilbo has a magical sword.
[SPEAKER_00]: Gandalf isn't even there.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's the plan?
[SPEAKER_00]: And more importantly, what do they and the people around them believe will happen?
[SPEAKER_00]: The people of Lake Town are hopeful that they will bring wealth to their kingdom, but they don't really have a sense of how this is actually going to work out.
[SPEAKER_00]: The master thinks that, well, they're just kind of a bother and they'll probably be killed anyway, but fine, I'll just deal with them as I need to right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then there's the elves that we get a perspective on right at the end of chapter ten, then Thrandwell, the king of the wood elves, his perspective is probably a little bit more accurate, and of course we know what happens, but the characters don't.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in the midst of all of this,
[SPEAKER_00]: In this episode today, we will watch as they go from a place of healing and celebration to a place of dread.
[SPEAKER_00]: The tone shifts yet again.
[SPEAKER_00]: And for very good reason, they are on the doorstep of a dragon.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this section starts off with a discussion about the wood elves and how they went back to the river.
[SPEAKER_00]: The wood elves that were working in Lake Town and helping haul things, they go back.
[SPEAKER_00]: They reveal the information to Thrando Will, who, at this point, isn't surprised that they left, because they've been gone for quite some time now, but he's kind of levelheaded about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And before we get to his perspective, I love the line here.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have never heard what happened to the chief of the guards.
[SPEAKER_00]: and the Butler.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is being written in first person by the narrator.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then the narrator, you could say, is in line with Bilbo having written this.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that there's something to be said about Bilbo's perspective of the chief of the guards and the Butler and how what he did was necessary, but he didn't feel like what was going to happen to them was
[SPEAKER_00]: Something that he wanted.
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't want them to get punished.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's such a good person deep down.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's part of why he returned the keys.
[SPEAKER_00]: But he never found out what happened and this comes up again, which is kind of touching and also sad because what did happen to the chief of carts in the Butler.
[SPEAKER_00]: But they were not well treated very kindly by a raging Thrandewill.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Thrandewell has a perspective on what's about to happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: He says very well, we'll see, no treasure will come back through Merkwood without my having something to say in the matter, but expect they will all come to a bad end and serve them right.
[SPEAKER_00]: So notice the very first thing he says is about treasure.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's all about treasure for him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Secondly, he's mad at them.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's like, well, they're, they're going to come to a bad end.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're confronting a dragon.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's, that's on them.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what you get for dealing with a dragon.
[SPEAKER_00]: But then the next sentence says that he did not believe in dwarves fighting and killing dragons like Smog.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was,
[SPEAKER_00]: Expecting that they wouldn't actually deal with him in a fight, which makes sense because he understands the history of dealing with dragons and dragons are not just something that you walk up to and take down in battle usually.
[SPEAKER_00]: And as far as he's aware, at least, I don't know that he knows of any dwarves who have ever accomplished this.
[SPEAKER_00]: He even says that he suspected that they would be more into burglary than actually fighting the dragon and taking back the mountain, as if they were going in order to, well, remove some of the most important bits of treasure from the dragon, but still kind of leave him there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Which again, kind of shows the importance of the treasure to Thranderwell.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the thing that he's focused on.
[SPEAKER_00]: But we also get the detail that he sends out his spies.
[SPEAKER_00]: He has people in this area looking about the lonely mountain to see what's going to happen to keep tabs on these dwarves because he's interested.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not so much in them, but in what's going to happen with the treasure.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, after a fortnight, and it specifically uses the word fortnight, and every time you see fortnight, I know today people think of the video game, but fortnight was a phrase that was pretty common.
[SPEAKER_00]: Think of it meaning fourteen nights, so two weeks.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thorn decides that it's time to go.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're healed up and he doesn't want to wait too long.
[SPEAKER_00]: People are still basically taking a holiday in the streets and seeing and they have kind of taken the last two weeks off.
[SPEAKER_00]: This has become a burden on the master and so we decide, okay, this is time to go.
[SPEAKER_00]: We need to get to this and the master never really believed that they were who they were or that they would actually approach the dragon and yet here they are.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I love the line here.
[SPEAKER_00]: There is no knowing what a dwarf will not dare and do for revenge or the recovery of his own.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because this is how dwarves work.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the master is not sorry to see them go.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he says this, let them go and bother small and see how he welcomes them, thinking that they're basically going to die, which would mean that they're no longer his problem.
[SPEAKER_00]: He says, though, to Thorin, you must claim your own.
[SPEAKER_00]: The hour is at hand, spoken of old.
[SPEAKER_00]: What help we can offer shall be yours?
[SPEAKER_00]: And we trust to your gratitude when the kingdom is regained.
[SPEAKER_00]: So he's kind of hedging his bets here.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's like, OK, they're going to go do what they're going to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if I were in his situation, I would be concerned about rousing the dragon, the dragon getting mad at the people of Lake Town.
[SPEAKER_00]: But he's like, they're going to go do what they're going to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe they're going to get themselves killed.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if somehow they win,
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember us, we helped you.
[SPEAKER_00]: You owe us.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the very last paragraph of chapter ten shows the change in tone through the use of the change of the seasons.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's shifting to autumn.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's getting far on, as it says.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the winds were cold and the leaves were falling fast.
[SPEAKER_00]: They take the boats.
[SPEAKER_00]: They send some horses down and alternate path because they need the horses and the ponies for their supplies.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they're all ready to go.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, all of them except for Bilbo.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's the only person thoroughly unhappy.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, this reminds us that Bilbo is like the adult on the journey.
[SPEAKER_00]: The dwarves are excited to get to the next thing because they believe in their quest
[SPEAKER_00]: and billbows going okay but how are we going to deal with the dragon and he has a magical ring he knows he has to be the one that has to sneak into this mountain however they figure out to get in here and will be the one who has to confront the dragon
[SPEAKER_00]: And so he's concerned, but that concern doesn't just stay with him because eventually it hits the dwarves as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: As most things do, there are a little bit late to realize the things that Gandalf or Bilbo can kind of predict, but eventually they get there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chapter eleven starts on the doorstep, and that's a good name because they're approaching the very doorstep of Aribor, the very doorstep that is now owned by a dragon.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in typical Tokyo and fashion, we get a lot of details about the journey and how they pack their things and how they pack up the horses and the donkeys, how they travel from down the river and then they get off the river all of that.
[SPEAKER_00]: But we also get the shift in tone as they get closer to the mountain.
[SPEAKER_00]: We see the lonely mountain towering grim and tall before them.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the men of Lake Town who have gone with them to help get them this far decide, okay, this is too close.
[SPEAKER_00]: They've never been this close to the shadow of the mountain.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this line really puts it together.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was easier to believe in the dragon and less easy to believe in Thorin in these wild parts.
[SPEAKER_00]: As they are getting to the desolation of smaug, that becomes real.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember, some of the people from Lake Town were even debating if the dragon actually was there or not.
[SPEAKER_00]: Most of the time they didn't travel to the mountain, and now that they're closer to the mountain and they can see that it feels very real that the dragon must be still here.
[SPEAKER_00]: All of a sudden that becomes a much more real experience than the hopes of a dwarf being able to take on that dragon.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that night is cold and we're told that their spirits fell in the next day, they set out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alan and Bilbo right in the back.
[SPEAKER_00]: and they're bringing these extra ponies with them with extra supplies on them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Which makes sense.
[SPEAKER_00]: They need the supplies.
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't know how long they're going to be figuring out how to get into this mountain.
[SPEAKER_00]: And as they continue on, we get to note that there were no paths.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody has traveled to this mountain in so long that there were no longer pathways etched in the earth.
[SPEAKER_00]: The ground had overgrown all the old paths.
[SPEAKER_00]: I also love the way that Tolkien describes the spurs of the mountains, the way that the pieces of the mountain that kind of come out at angles that are rising from the ground, reach out at great distances.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what that looks like?
[SPEAKER_00]: And as they journey, they are quiet.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're told that it was a weary journey and a quiet and stealthy one, which makes sense.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're trying not to be noticed.
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't know if the dragon is outside.
[SPEAKER_00]: If it's up perched on its mountain somewhere, watching the paths towards the mountain, or if it's sleeping, kind of hibernating inside.
[SPEAKER_00]: And because of this, they don't sing, they don't play harps or music.
[SPEAKER_00]: They just ride in the quiet and in the gloom as the world around them becomes desolate and more dark and more serious.
[SPEAKER_00]: In both the nature of the ground, the plant life is dead.
[SPEAKER_00]: The weather is getting colder.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everything in their environment is basically saying, go away.
[SPEAKER_00]: You are not safe here.
[SPEAKER_00]: These lines make it very clear.
[SPEAKER_00]: There was little grass and before long there it was neither bush nor tree and only broken and blackened stumps to speak of one's long vanished.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were come to the desolation of the dragon, and they were come at the waning of the year.
[SPEAKER_00]: The entire environment is becoming more difficult.
[SPEAKER_00]: So they reached the skirts of the mountain, as it's called, and they're safe, or at least they haven't come across any problems yet.
[SPEAKER_00]: The mountain is described as laying dark and silent before them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, there's still sunlight.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not like the sun doesn't work.
[SPEAKER_00]: So during the days, the sun would still shine on the mountain and you would be able to see that because it's a mountain.
[SPEAKER_00]: One side of the mountain, depending on where the sun is in the sky, is definitely going to be illuminated by the sun.
[SPEAKER_00]: but yet the mountain feels dark and is silent.
[SPEAKER_00]: The animals are not where they should be.
[SPEAKER_00]: The world is uncomfortably quiet.
[SPEAKER_00]: They reach a place called Ravenhill.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is an old watchpost on the edges of the extent of the mountain.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it still kind of exists.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's in ruin, but it exists.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's there.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yet they decide not to climb up in it.
[SPEAKER_00]: They could get a better view at a distance, had they climbed up.
[SPEAKER_00]: But it was too exposed.
[SPEAKER_00]: It would be too easy to see somebody standing at the top of the ruined watch post looking out.
[SPEAKER_00]: It would be one thing to notice a bunch of travelers just kind of out in the wilderness, just randomly looking across the landscape.
[SPEAKER_00]: It would be another to look at something like the runes of a wash shower, which would imagine you at the top of the mountain.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's something that would catch your eye.
[SPEAKER_00]: You would kind of naturally want to look in that direction as there is very little else that differentiates itself from just the desolation.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so if you were to do that, you would very easily notice somebody on the top.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you had the vision of a dragon,
[SPEAKER_00]: It's at this point that we get the beginning of what feels like a plan.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're told that before setting out to search the western spurs of the mountain for the hidden door, so that's still their plan.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we're told here that this is in which all their hopes rest.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is their only plan right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thorin makes a smart decision.
[SPEAKER_00]: He decides to send out a scouting group in order to see what's going on in the land on the south side of the mountain, which is where the front gate is.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because by taking a look at the front gate, they might be able to get a sense of what to expect.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the setting still matches basically what they've been going through.
[SPEAKER_00]: We were reminded again, they marched under gray and silent cliffs.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we're given some details about the way the river flows and how it's swift and noisy.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the banks are bare and rocky, tall and steep.
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, the imagery here is telling us, don't be here.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is not hospitable.
[SPEAKER_00]: You do not want to be here.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then they could see the wide valley shadowed by the mountains, arms, the gray ruins of ancient houses, towers, and walls.
[SPEAKER_00]: They've come to the remains of the city of Dale.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Bowlin explains this to the group.
[SPEAKER_00]: Their lies all that is left of Dale said Bowlin.
[SPEAKER_00]: The mountain sides were green with woods and all the sheltered valley rich in pleasant in the days when the bells rang in that town.
[SPEAKER_00]: He remembers when this would have been a beautiful sight.
[SPEAKER_00]: Green grass, trees, a flowing river with animals, birds, the sounds of nature, a place that you would want to spend time.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yet it is now completely the opposite.
[SPEAKER_00]: Notice also that the description of the ground being burned and the rocks being sharpened and the sky being gray and the shadows.
[SPEAKER_00]: Does this remind you of another place?
[SPEAKER_00]: It feels almost like Mordor.
[SPEAKER_00]: Or, then this includes the blackened remains of trees, probably very similar to the experience that Tolkien had, of bombed out no man's lands.
[SPEAKER_00]: And World War I.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we get this comparison a lot.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is something that comes up pretty regularly, especially when talking about Mordor or the remnants of a battlefield in this world as opposed to our own world.
[SPEAKER_00]: But think about it from the perspective of somebody who has been there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Somebody who had served on the front lines, somebody who had been in a trench.
[SPEAKER_00]: Somebody who had understood what war actually feels like
[SPEAKER_00]: in a place as terrifying as this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Imagine sitting in the trenches.
[SPEAKER_00]: Around you, you are surrounded by filth because it's not easy to get up and use a restroom or clean out the bottom of the trench from moisture and the kinds of animals and bugs that would have been in a place like this wouldn't be the kinds that you would want to be in a place where you were.
[SPEAKER_00]: It would be one thing to walk through the wilderness of safe France and see the birds in the trees and the deer in the forest.
[SPEAKER_00]: and the frogs, and the crickets, and the sounds of nature that are comforting and familiar.
[SPEAKER_00]: But in a place like a trench in World War I, it would have been more similar to a place like this.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only creatures you would have seen would have been the ones that can survive in a wasteland.
[SPEAKER_00]: bugs, insects, rats, the kinds of creatures that bring disease and do not make for comfortable bed fellows.
[SPEAKER_00]: We could put it that way.
[SPEAKER_00]: But on top of that, imagine the scene of being in a trench in World War I, without those animals, without trees, without the sound of wind in leaves and birds chirping, the silence would have been deafening.
[SPEAKER_00]: until the conflict became even more deafening.
[SPEAKER_00]: Stark contrasts.
[SPEAKER_00]: Human beings do not thrive in extremes.
[SPEAKER_00]: We evolve to exist in places that are in the middle.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hot temperatures, freezing temperatures, no thanks.
[SPEAKER_00]: Give me a nice, slightly cool, slightly warm day.
[SPEAKER_00]: Extreme wind, no wind.
[SPEAKER_00]: Both feel weird.
[SPEAKER_00]: Give me a light breeze.
[SPEAKER_00]: No sound too much sound?
[SPEAKER_00]: No.
[SPEAKER_00]: Both of those things can be terrifying.
[SPEAKER_00]: Give me natural sounds around me so that I feel comfortable.
[SPEAKER_00]: and normal, like a creature in its natural environment.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yet, this is the opposite of what they get here.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a reason why Smellg burns the land around the mountain.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's something about this that I didn't understand at a young age.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was like, well, was he just angry?
[SPEAKER_00]: Did he just get mad?
[SPEAKER_00]: And so he just threw fire all over the place and just kind of burned up the trees?
[SPEAKER_00]: No.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, smoke did this strategically.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you create a zone around the mountain that reminds people of an uncomfortable place, a place of death, a place of darkness and burnt husks and the corpses of the trees or animals that were there when the place got burned,
[SPEAKER_00]: It's going to keep people away.
[SPEAKER_00]: Human beings naturally want to avoid those kinds of situations.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so the people around him would take that as a warning.
[SPEAKER_00]: This almost creates like a moat around the mountain because nobody would want to travel through there.
[SPEAKER_00]: And on top of it, it's not just uncomfortable.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's unsurviable.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why did they have to pack so many supplies on the backs of extra donkeys in order to make it to the mountain?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's because there are no natural things that grow and survive near the mountain.
[SPEAKER_00]: Have this been centuries before?
[SPEAKER_00]: They could have hunted.
[SPEAKER_00]: They could have picked berries off of bushes.
[SPEAKER_00]: There would have been things to consume to survive along the way.
[SPEAKER_00]: There would have been natural shelter in the trees.
[SPEAKER_00]: But no, you don't get any of that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everything is exposed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everything is out in the open.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it is extremely uncomfortable.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this is the scenario that they're in right here.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is the world that Ballin and Philly and Killy and Bilbo, who are the ones who are sent have to navigate through.
[SPEAKER_00]: And why were they the ones that were sent?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because they seem to be the most capable of the group.
[SPEAKER_00]: They are the ones that Thor entrests the most.
[SPEAKER_00]: And amidst all of this, they make their way to the front gate.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not all the way to the front gate.
[SPEAKER_00]: Close enough where they can see the river streaming out of the front gate.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's not all.
[SPEAKER_00]: Lying hidden behind a rock they could look out and see the dark cavernous opening in a great cliff wall between the arms of the mountain.
[SPEAKER_00]: Out of it the waters of the running river spraying and out of it too, there came a stream and a dark smoke.
[SPEAKER_00]: Notice that the dark smoke is not natural.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing moved in the waste, save the vapor and the water, and every now and again, a black and ominous crow.
[SPEAKER_00]: Another creature that seems to be okay in this environment that doesn't feel natural.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only sound was the sound of the stony water, and every now and again, the harsh croak of a bird, fallen shuddered.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is not what he remembers.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is a dark and ominous place, and on top of it, there's some sort of smoke that seems to be leaving the front door, the front gate of this location.
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, a sign that this is not natural and on top of it, the water may actually be corrupted as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Balan says here, let us return, he said, we can do no good here.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't like these dark birds.
[SPEAKER_00]: They look like spies of evil.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he's not wrong to think that.
[SPEAKER_00]: We know from Tolkien's other works that oftentimes these types of dark birds were used as spies and messengers by people like Saruman.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's just the Lord of the Rings.
[SPEAKER_00]: Other kinds of dark spies have been used by villains across the series.
[SPEAKER_00]: Morgoth did that in the past.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it makes sense for somebody wise enough to know that this might be not just a bad omen, but it might be something worse.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then there's a little bit of debate here right at the end of the section that we're going to talk about.
[SPEAKER_00]: Bilbo says, the dragon is still alive, and in the halls under the mountain, then, or imagine so from the smoke.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Bilbo looks at the scenario, and he goes, okay, they're smoke coming out of the front gate.
[SPEAKER_00]: Clearly, there's something that has to make the smoke.
[SPEAKER_00]: What could be making the smoke?
[SPEAKER_00]: Is it a fire?
[SPEAKER_00]: Is it the dragon itself?
[SPEAKER_00]: Does the dragon breathe smoke?
[SPEAKER_00]: Is it burning things or things inside the mountain burning?
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever that scenario is,
[SPEAKER_00]: It's probably a dragon.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, we don't have any news of anybody else having been here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody seems to know if the dragon's still alive or not, which means nobody has come back to report from it.
[SPEAKER_00]: So who else would be in there making smoke?
[SPEAKER_00]: And if it was naturally occurring smoke, then wouldn't have put itself out at some point.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why would it be burning now and new?
[SPEAKER_00]: You can see his reasoning there.
[SPEAKER_00]: It makes sense.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yet, Ballon has a different perspective.
[SPEAKER_00]: This section ends with this.
[SPEAKER_00]: That does not prove it, said Ballon.
[SPEAKER_00]: Though I don't doubt you are right, but he might be gone away sometime, or he might be lying out on the mountain side, keeping watch, and still I expect smokes, and steams would come out of the gates.
[SPEAKER_00]: All the halls within must be filled with his foul weak.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for tuning into this episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: I will be going into further details about dragons in the bonus episode this week for our patrons.
[SPEAKER_00]: And speaking of our patrons, we have some new ones to shout out who have decided to join us.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I hope you're enjoying your ad free episodes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your bonus episodes, if you signed up as an all-access patron.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you sign up as a VIP patron, then you're gonna get shoutouts every week, like all of these people who are going to get completely right.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to nail this.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Matt, I said, Mack, I made the cook sound.
[SPEAKER_00]: I messed up Matt.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm so sorry, Matt.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for all of your support.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I would, you know, announce the voice line app thing to be able to play out people's messages, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, it turns out that I guess I don't know if they got purchased or something.
[SPEAKER_00]: That site has been changing and I used to use my Google login in order to log in, but that feature is no longer there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Strange.
[SPEAKER_00]: It hasn't been there for a number of days and I don't know if it's going to be there.
[SPEAKER_00]: So if you left a message and you're waiting to hear it on the show, I can't access it right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, unfortunately, that's not happening.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully, they get a fixed, I can log back in and catch up on any messages that I can't currently see.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if that doesn't happen within a few weeks, I'll see about finding an alternate service that would be able to do that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because that's super weird, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, hopefully I get that figured out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Also, thank you to those of you who left a review on Apple Podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can see the ones in the US, and if you do so, I'll read those out on a future episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just like this one, actually, we got two that came in the last two weeks or so.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is from Podge Gigabyte, who writes an exceptional podcast from an exceptional host.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you are searching to dive into the deep and seemingly unending lore of Tolkien's legendarium, look no further than this podcast, the host Tom, expertly dissects the stories to bring fans of this world a greater understanding and appreciation for Tolkien's work.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm a welder who spends the whole day on my feet in a dusty shop working with hot metal.
[SPEAKER_00]: But with this podcast, I spend my days feeling more like a dwarf working deep in the forges of Kazadume.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you Tom.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's awesome.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much, punch.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's so cool.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then this one is from Revendalian Wanderer, Great Podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hello, future self, smiley face.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is an outstanding podcast and a must listen for anyone who loves LOTR.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if I can add much to the previous glowing reviews this podcast has received, but I can certainly echo them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Tom is a great host that seems to really connect with the source material.
[SPEAKER_00]: His passion for Tolkien's world is evident with the amount of attention and detail he brings when discussing material.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love to listen while finishing or cutting the grass.
[SPEAKER_00]: About thirty episodes left and will need more to consume in a few weeks.
[SPEAKER_00]: Looks like I'll be signing up for the Patreon.
[SPEAKER_00]: Last note, I really appreciate that this is a clean podcast so I can play it with my children in the car.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for the tremendous effort you put in.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, absolutely.
[SPEAKER_00]: Tolkien is something that should be enjoyed by everybody.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yes, the stories can get really dark and existential and deadly at times.
[SPEAKER_00]: But that's part of good storytelling.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's part of, that's part of life.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't think that I think Tolkien would probably agree with this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Certain types of language can be beneficial in specific uses.
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, all language can be beneficial if used correctly at the right time for the right reasons.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oftentimes during a show like this, there's no reason to put in profanity for no, no reason at all.
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't make any sense.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like that was a bad justification.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just used that justification.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not using it for not using it.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think you understand what I mean.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's no need to do that.
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't actually improve or create any effect that I would want to create.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in fact, it would hinder the audience from being able to enjoy it the way that they could with their families.
[SPEAKER_00]: So yes, absolutely.
[SPEAKER_00]: that I told a little agreement with that.
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't mean that I don't necessarily think that sometimes language can be used for, you know, the right reasons, but in a show like this, not the right place.
[SPEAKER_00]: So thank you for that perspective.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you everybody for your continued support.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm going to go talk about dragons because, man, have you ever wondered how big smile is compared to Gloron, the first dragon?
[SPEAKER_00]: or the really, really big one that shows up during the War of Rath and Caledon the Great.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, we're going to talk about that in the bonus episode this week.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, have a wonderful week.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll see you next time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for listening to the Lord of the Rings lorecast.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you'd like to learn more about other fantasy worlds, check out my other podcasts.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Elder Scrolls lorecast, The Witcher lorecast, and more at robotsradio.net.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you'd like to reach out, I'd love to hear from you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Send me a note on Twitter at robots underscore radio, or join our amazing community on the robots radio discord.
[SPEAKER_00]: There are links in the show notes, or just search robotsradio discord, or find the link on robotsradio.net.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll see you next time.