Hardcover Hooligans - Episodes Tagged with “Tolkien”

The Silmarillion - Part 3

Hardcover Hooligans — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 07:00:00 -0500

Danylo and Mc finally finish The Silmarillion, and with that all of J.R.R. Tolkien’s most notable work. Turin Turumbar is the most depressing man of all time, Mîm sucks, and a hidden city becomes no longer hidden in dramatic fashion.

The Silmarillion
By J.R.R. Tolkien. Edited by Christopher Tolkien
Published in 1977 by George Allen & Unwin.

*Spoilers: *
The Silmarillion
The Lord of Rings
The Hobbit

Links:
Chapter summaries: https://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/reference/silmsummaries/home.php

Glaurung vs. Anchalagon the Black: https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-52aa34e3b323b6238b0bae292bff39d4-c

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The Silmarillion - Part 2

Hardcover Hooligans — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 07:00:00 -0500

The tragic saga of the Silmarils continues with Sauron doing a Battle of the Bands, a talking dog, and the coolest heist ever.

The Silmarillion
By J.R.R. Tolkien. Edited by Christopher Tolkien
Published in 1977 by George Allen & Unwin.

*Spoilers: *
The Silmarillion
The Lord of Rings
The Hobbit

Links:
Chapter summaries: https://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/reference/silmsummaries/home.php

Lame image of Carcaroth: https://images.beastsofwar.com/2022/08/91082101-20220828151912_IMG_3158-01.jpeg

The Hunting of Carcaroth: https://www.muddycolors.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/justin-gerard-BL2017-n16-12e.jpg

Beren and Luthien confront Carcaroth: https://cdn.cara.app/cdn-cgi/image/width=640/production/posts/f06427f7-6044-4be3-9ec3-09ab1c4548fb/Xavier%20Collette-Ssb0OetKRFUBGjHYpCuT2-Carcharoth_preview01.jpg

The Silmarillion - Part 1

Hardcover Hooligans — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 07:00:00 -0500

If you thought fantasy couldn’t get nerdier than the appendices of Lord of the Rings, let us introduce you to The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien, the "prequel" to Lord of the Rings. It is very cool. And beautiful. And also boring sometimes. Is it for everyone? No. Is it for anyone? Well…

The Silmarillion
By J.R.R. Tolkien. Edited by Christopher Tolkien
Published in 1955 by George Allen & Unwin.

*Spoilers: *
The Silmarillion
The Lord of Rings
The Hobbit

Links:
Chapter summaries: https://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/reference/silmsummaries/home.php

The Lord of the Rings - Appendices

Hardcover Hooligans — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 07:00:00 -0600

That’s right, the appendices of The Lord of the Rings have so much frickin’ nerd stuff we need a whole separate episode.

We’ve got some great stories like Helm Hammerhand beating everyone up, Aragorn’s dating history, and Sam getting elected mayor of the Shire every year until he dies.

The Return of the King
By J.R.R. Tolkien
Published in 1955 by George Allen & Unwin.

*Spoilers: *
All of The Lord of Rings

Links:
Summary of the appendices: https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Appendices

Tolkien’s Grave Stone: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/jrr-tolkiens-grave

SPQR, by Mary Beard: https://rb.gy/ikjyah

A Distant Mirror, by Barbara Tuchman: https://rb.gy/ok2nlf

Lord of the Rings Calendar explained (calendar is #5, plus other appendix info): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pciR1eElWoQ

The Return of the King - Part 2

Hardcover Hooligans — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 07:00:00 -0600

Danylo and Mc read and discuss the finale of Lord of the Rings. There's like twelve different endings, including Sharkey and the infamous Scouring of the Shire.

The Return of the King
By J.R.R. Tolkien
Published in 1955 by George Allen & Unwin.

*Spoilers: *
Most of all of The Lord of Rings (we talk about what happens in all the movies constantly)
The Hobbit

Links:
Summary of the whole book: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/returnking/summary/

The Return of the King - Part 1

Hardcover Hooligans — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 07:00:00 -0600

Mc and Danylo read Book 5 (a.k.a. the first half) of The Return of the King. Battles with orcs, battles with pirates, and battles with despair!
Plus, Mc shares an internet book culture pet peeve.

The Return of the King
By J.R.R. Tolkien
Published in 1955 by George Allen & Unwin.

*Spoilers: *
Most of all of The Lord of Rings (we talk about what happens in all the movies constantly)
The Hobbit

Links:
Summary of the whole book: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/returnking/summary/

The Two Towers - Part 2

Hardcover Hooligans — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 07:00:00 -0600

Our heroes get ever closer to Mordor, where it’s dangerous to look at the evil stuff for too long. Danylo definitely thought this part was going to be boring (it was not), and Mc gets confused about the layout of a cave. But in all sincerity, the main take is that these books definitely don’t get enough credit for their subtlety and nuance. It’s just good.

The Two Towers
By J.R.R. Tolkien
Published in 1954 by George Allen & Unwin.

*Spoilers: *
Most of all of The Lord of Rings (we talk about what happens in all the movies constantly)
Spoilers for Amazon’s Rings of Power show

Links:
Summary of the whole book: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/twotowers/summary/

Map of Mordor: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/16/2d/f9/162df9c79f622e6eb9f4f1dba79994af.jpg

Classic video about potatoes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihMMw0rnKz4

Sam vs. Shelob image: https://arthive.com/artists/9342~Ted_Nesmith/works/274387~Spider

The Two Towers - Part 1

Hardcover Hooligans — Mon, 01 Jan 2024 07:00:00 -0600

Danylo and Mc chug some ent-draughts and discuss the first half of The Two Towers. Dwarves love running actually, Wormtongue is the alt-right pipeline, and waving around a sword cures depression. We also meet the second and final woman in these books! Wow!

The Two Towers
By J.R.R. Tolkien
Published in 1954 by George Allen & Unwin.

*Spoilers: *
Most of all of The Lord of Rings (we talk about what happens in all the movies constantly)
The Hobbit

Links:
Summary of the whole book: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/twotowers/summary/

Maps of Helm’s Deep: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/169207/why-was-the-breaking-of-the-wall-of-helms-deep-so-important-in-the-two-towers

The Fellowship of the Ring - Part 2

Hardcover Hooligans — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 07:00:00 -0600

Danylo and Mc read the second half of The Fellowship of the Ring, during which they try to answer the question “what if Frodo was wearing armor made of Bitcoin?”

The Fellowship of the Ring
By J.R.R. Tolkien
Published in 1954 by George Allen & Unwin.

*Spoilers: *
Most of all of The Lord of Rings (we talk about what happens in all the movies constantly)
The Hobbit

Links:
Summary of the whole book: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/fellowship/summary/

The Fellowship of the Ring - Part 1

Hardcover Hooligans — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 07:00:00 -0600

Danylo and Mc throw a long-expected party by reading the first book in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (we know it’s not technically a trilogy, it’s one whole story, but who cares). Danylo constantly compares the book to the movies (sorry), and Mc revisits one of his favorite books.
They both have a crush on Aragorn.

The Fellowship of the Ring
By J.R.R. Tolkien
Published in 1954 by George Allen & Unwin.

*Spoilers: *
Most of all of The Lord of Rings (we talk about what happens in all the movies constantly)
The Hobbit

Links:
Summary of the whole book: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/fellowship/summary/

Reasons for Liking Tolkien, by Jenny Turner: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v23/n22/jenny-turner/reasons-for-liking-tolkien

Tom Bombadil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Bombadil

Lord of the Rings Musical Soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/album/6PpBGWOamHlsuI5diOtMBe?si=UDbWASI-T5S_dSPreq7yhw

Thanks for listening!
If you liked the show, please leave us a review! And if you want to contact us, shoot us an email at hardcoverhooligans@gmail.com.

The Hobbit

Hardcover Hooligans — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 07:00:00 -0600

**ATTENTION! **Mc misspoke about Tolkien rewriting a bit of the Hobbit regarding the dwarves. He was conflating the Riddles in the Dark rewrite with the letter Tolkien sent the publisher. Sorry!!!!! Neither of us will EVER misspeak again.

Mc and Danylo read a classic in the fantasy genre, which is also a classic in the “cheating at riddle games to get over-powered jewelry” genre.

The Hobbit
By J.R.R. Tolkien
Published in 1937 by George Allen & Unwin.

*Spoilers: *
All of The Hobbit
We also talk about the Lord of the Rings movies constantly, so…spoilers for some 20-year-old movies, I guess.

Links:

Summary of the whole book: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/hobbit/summary/

Stuart Little Meme: https://www.reddit.com/r/lotrmemes/comments/sldipv/do_you_agree/

On Fairy Stories: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Fairy-Stories

J.R.R. Tolkien’s Jewish Dwarves article: https://daily.jstor.org/j-r-r-tolkiens-jewish-dwarves/

Thanks for listening!
If you liked the show, please leave us a review! And if you want to contact us, shoot us an email at hardcoverhooligans@gmail.com.