Shows / Today's Tolkien Times
Today's Tolkien Times
Get your Tolkien every day by subscribing to Today’s Tolkien Times! Alan Sisto, host of the award-winning Prancing Pony Podcast and Rings of Power Wrap-up, hosts a new short-format daily podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever else you get your podcasts! Listeners get answers on Mailbag Mondays; discover more about the Professor on Tolkien Tuesdays; indulge your inner philologist on Word-nerd Wednesdays; learn more about the familiar stories of Middle-earth on Third…
Episodes
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 127 - Word-nerd Wednesday: By Design or Chance
Join The Man of the West for Fortress Week, including a tower whose name means one thing in Elvish and something else entirely in Rohirric — but manages to be…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 127 - Tolkien Tuesday: Circumstances That Affront Your Taste
The Man of the West hands the microphone to the Professor for the heart of letter 250 — sagging faith, bad priests, and a father’s advice to go find the worst…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 127 - Might-Have-Been Monday: Seeth All Things Crooked
Everyone in Doriath ignores the wisest person in the room — except The Man of the West, of course! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 126 - Silmarillion Saturday: Say Farewell to the Weak
Fëanor at the gym? No, just an announcement of the obvious. Join The Man of the West as Fëanor reminds us of his status as Morgoth’s mini-me. Learn more about…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 126 - Friendship Friday: What Did You Call Me?
Join The Man of the West for part two of Aragorn and Gandalf as the wizard bows to the ranger, and the ranger doesn’t blink. Learn more about your ad choices…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 126 - Third Age Thursday: Three Peoples, One Kin
Join The Man of the West for the second appendix to the Fords of Isen, as we imagine a family reunion of Bree-folk, Dunlendings, and the Dead Men of Dunharrow…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 126 - Word-nerd Wednesday: Battle-Friend
Join The Man of the West for Sword Week: the storied blades of Aragorn, Gandalf, Théoden, and Éomer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 126 - Tolkien Tuesday: The Inability to Write Briefly
True of The Man of the West; also true of Tolkien and his son, Michael. Join The Man of the West for the first of three weeks on Letter 250. Learn more about…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 126 - Might-Have-Been Monday: Every Warning Was Accurate
The wisest voice in Doriath speaks and Thingol answers with a shrug. Join The Man of the West as we look at what happens when nobody listens to Melian. Learn…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 125 - Silmarillion Saturday: A Deadly Weariness
Join The Man of the West as Morgoth and Ungoliant’s terrible, no-good, very-bad first date comes to a screaming end, and Balrogs come to save the day. Learn…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 125 - Friendship Friday: I Am With You, Gandalf
Join The Man of the West as he continues Friendship Fridays with a new pairing: Aragorn and Gandalf. Today’s episode: when not to say ‘I told you so’. Learn…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 125 - Third Age Thursday: Virtually First Marshal
Join The Man of the West for Erkenbrand’s inherited authority, Éomer’s promotion that isn’t one, and the invisible career of Grimbold. Learn more about your ad…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 125 - Word-nerd Wednesday: When is a French Word the Right Word?
Join The Man of the West for real Anglo-Saxon governance, a forest-word that forgot its own meaning, and a Philology Faire rerun on why Tolkien chose French…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 125 - Tolkien Tuesday: I Cannot Write Decently
True for The Man of the West most of the time; only true for the Professor when his hand is giving out. A look at three letters reveals an exhausting fortnight…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 125 - Might-Have-Been Monday: I Shall Roast Him
Middle-earth Map Monday hangs up its cartography for a new series of speculations: Might-Have-Been Monday. First up: what if Barliman Butterbur had delivered…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 124 — Silmarillion Saturday: Check, Please!
Possibly the worst first date in the history of Arda. Join The Man of the West as Fëanor names the Black Foe and Morgoth discovers what Ungoliant charges for…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 124 — Friendship Friday: More Cannot Be Said
The two who didn’t even speak until Moria end up sharing a ship across the Sea. Join The Man of the West for the last Friendship Friday of the series. Learn…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 124 — Third Age Thursday: By the Mouth of Gríma
No battle today — just the paperwork behind one. Join The Man of the West for the Marshals of the Mark: who really ran Rohan while the King faded, and a bit of…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 124 — Word-nerd Wednesday: Old as Mountains
It only took seven hundred episodes to circle back to the Ents. Join The Man of the West for the Elvish side of their names that we never did. Learn more about…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 124 — Tolkien Tuesday: The Shepherds of the Trees
Join The Man of the West for the back half of Letter 247, as we learn where the Ents came from: both on the page and from Tolkien’s own pen. Learn more about…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 124 — Middle-earth Map Monday: Is There a Carpool Lane?
Turns out the express lane to Mount Doom was paved by the Enemy himself. Join The Man of the West for our last Map Monday in Mordor, as the road ends at the…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 123 - Silmarillion Saturday: Not the First
Join The Man of the West as the Valar ask Fëanor to break the Silmarils and heal the Trees — and Fëanor does precisely what you’d imagine. Learn more about…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 123 - Friendship Friday: An Elf Will Go Underground
…and a Dwarf dare not! Join The Man of the West on the Paths of the Dead, and Legolas has to tell Gimli’s story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 123 - Third Age Thursday: An Ambush, Not an Absence
Join The Man of the West as Grimbold breaks out of the trap at the Fords, and we finally learn what really kept his friend away. Learn more about your ad…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 123 - Word-nerd Wednesday: A Mushy Language
What do moose have in common with the Nazgûl? Join The Man of the West for six of Mordor’s darkest names — and the Gaelic word for ‘ring’ that Tolkien swore he…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 123 - Tolkien Tuesday: An Unvisited Island
Join The Man of the West for the first half of Letter 247, where Tolkien frets that some magic dies the moment you visit it. Learn more about your ad choices…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 123 - Middle-earth Map Monday: Chance Our Luck
Not a lottery ticket The Man of the West would buy. Join him as Frodo and Sam take the one road left to them, and end up conscripted into Sauron’s army. Learn…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 122 - Silmarillion Saturday: All Song Ceased
Join The Man of the West as Melkor and Ungoliant reach the Trees — and Valinor, which was sung into being, discovers silence alongside darkness. Learn more…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 122 - Friendship Friday: You Move Me, Gimli
Join The Man of the West as Gimli describes the caverns of Helm’s Deep with great detail and glorious prose, like… well, like Tolkien. Learn more about your ad…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 122 - Third Age Thursday: The Shieldwall Held
Midnight, a river of fire, and no sign of Elfhelm. Join The Man of the West as Grimbold makes his stand at the Fords of Isen — and faces a choice between glory…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 122 - Word-nerd Wednesday: Horse-Joy
Join The Man of the West for one Old English root, four Rohirric names, and a word that has been galloping through the language since the Eurasian steppe…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 122 - Tolkien Tuesday: And Good Detestable
The Ringwraiths would have said “my lord”, but not to The Man of the West. We close out letter 246 today — including some hard truths about Gandalf. Learn more…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 122 - Middle-earth Map Monday: Pieces on a Board
Join The Man of the West as Frodo and Sam crest the Morgai — and discover the plain of Gorgoroth is crawling with orcs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 121 - Silmarillion Saturday: Reconciled, In Word
Join The Man of the West as Melkor and Ungoliant come down from Hyarmentir, and Valinor holds a party. Moral of the story: hire private security. Learn more…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 121 - Friendship Friday: You Comfort Me
Join The Man of the West as Legolas and Gimli become two-thirds of the Three Hunters — from the breaking of the Fellowship, across Rohan, and into Helm's Deep…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 121 - Third Age Thursday: Let Isen Be Their Snare
Join The Man of the West as two loyal commanders disagree about how to fight a battle Tolkien has already told us was lost. Learn more about your ad choices…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 121 - Word-nerd Wednesday: Brightest of Stars
Join The Man of the West for six words drawn from the cry that broke the Watchers — and from an older cry, in the dark of Shelob's lair. Learn more about your…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 121 - Tolkien Tuesday: Nice Master
It’s certainly not what Alan’s team members call him. Join The Man of the West as we continue letter 246 and visit the moment that Tolkien calls perhaps the…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 121 - Middle-earth Map Monday: Down and Down
But not to goblin-town; not yet. Join The Man of the West as Sam finds the way up to Frodo, and the two escape the Tower of Cirith Ungol — into The Land of…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 120 - Silmarillion Saturday: With Both Hands
Join The Man of the West as we go back to where the whole tragedy begins — Melkor slips south to the lightless land of Avathar, and strikes a bargain with a…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 120 - Friendship Friday: Above All the Jewels
What Fëanor didn’t get after begging three times, a Dwarf gets at first asking. Join The Man of the West as Gimli leaves Lothlórien with three golden hairs and…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 120 - Third Age Thursday: Till Éomer Comes
Two wolfriders, a two-mile charge, and a horn in the dark. Join The Man of the West as Elfhelm reaches the Fords of Isen, and the Prince of the Mark speaks his…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 120 - Word-nerd Wednesday: Full Power
Join The Man of the West for a black fence, a shadow that argued with itself, a mountain that watched the wrong way — and the Latin word Tolkien used to…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 120 - Tolkien Tuesday: Where Shall I Find Rest?
Join The Man of the West as we continue letter 246, where Tolkien turns from Frodo’s blame to Frodo’s wounds — and the question Gandalf wouldn’t answer. Learn…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 120 - Middle-earth Map Monday: Climbs Backwards-Like
Join The Man of the West (who climbs forward, if at all) as we follow Sam in, and up, the Tower of Cirith Ungol on his quest to find Frodo. Learn more about…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 119 - Silmarillion Saturday: Dark Fruit
Join The Man of the West as the last two sons of Fëanor wish they’d ordered oven mitts, and the Quenta Silmarillion comes to its end. Learn more about your ad…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 119 - Friendship Friday: I Need You Both
Two peoples, three Ages of grievance, and one wizard who refuses to give judgment. Join The Man of the West as we begin our look at An Unexpected Friendship…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 119 - Third Age Thursday: Too Late
Join The Man of the West as Saruman’s trap closes around Théodred at the Fords of Isen — and Grimbold proves his worth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 119 - Word-nerd Wednesday: Through the Cenedril, and What Gimli Found There
That would be a very different book, Mr. Carroll. Join The Man of the West for a look at a river and a lake, six names, and a 1971 BBC interview with Tolkien…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 119 - Tolkien Tuesday: He Did That
Join The Man of the West as we begin a four-episode read-through of letter 246 — in which Tolkien defends Frodo, demolishes simple-minded heroism, and gives us…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 119 - Middle-earth Map Monday: Boom. Clang.
Join The Man of the West as we approach the Tower of Cirith Ungol with Sam — from leaving Frodo’s body behind, to the Two Watchers at the gate. Learn more…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 118 - Silmarillion Saturday: Who Shall Release Us?
Join The Man of the West as the two surviving sons of Fëanor argue the theology of an oath sworn to Ilúvatar, with one simply asking: can we just do a little…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 118 - Friendship Friday: Two Is Enough
Four episodes, two cousins, and one Man with a regrettable attitude. Join The Man of the West as we wrap up our time with Merry and Pippin, from the road home…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 118 - Third Age Thursday: Five Days
Join The Man of the West as we shift gears on Third Age Thursday and being a series-long read through of The Battles of the Fords of Isen from Unfinished…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 118 - Word-nerd Wednesday: To Have and To Holdwine
Join The Man of the West for a pair of Sindarin words from Shelob’s Lair, and three Old English words from the open horse-lands of Rohan. Learn more about your…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 118 - Tolkien Tuesday: Crabbed and Not Too Legible
Tolkien’s writing, not mine — though my writing is rarely legible. Join The Man of the West as Tolkien, developing his ambidexterity, answers a reader's…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 118 - Middle-earth Map Monday: Filth Unnameable
No, not the latest hotel review from The Man of the West. Join us as we open Series 16 in the dark, fragrant comfort of Shelob’s Lair. Learn more about your ad…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 117 - Silmarillion Saturday: And Yet Unvaliant
Join The Man of the West — to whom this episode’s title does not refer… usually — as we read the climax of the War of Wrath, and Morgoth finally gets what’s…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 117 - Friendship Friday: I Am Lonely
No, not me — I’m fine; it’s Pippin you should worry about. Join The Man of the West as we examine Merry & Pippin’s friendship during their time apart, and…
- Today's Tolkien Times
Week 117 - Third Age Thursday: It Is Difficult to Keep Awake Here
Look, I’m trying to keep things exciting, but… oh, that wasn’t about the show. Join The Man of the West as we conclude our study of the Elves of Rivendell…