Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Oriana’s choice of topic: monarchy, through the lens of Aragorn as king. It’s an interesting tension throughout Tolkien’s legendarium that while his foundational stories of Middle-earth have kings and queens, princes and other ruling monarchs at the core of organized societies, whether men, elves or dwarves, his ideal society of the Shire lacks them entirely. Further, as king, Aragorn not only honors their desire for relative isolation but even forbids himself from entering as the ruling monarch from the line that granted the land to the hobbits to start with. It’s equally notable as well that Aragorn seems to step from being the leader of a small society of men on an almost tribal level to seamlessly being a ruler of a massive geographic and political area, when so much of what he does is based around individual action and interaction. All this leads to thoughts on how Tolkien himself felt about monarchy in general, whether his own imagined ideal state of such a ruler or how he depicted representatives of monarchy in his fiction. What are the examples of monarchy Aragorn could have drawn on from both his own familial background and the societies before him – and how successful in the end were they? What does it mean to be a monarch and how is that signified via symbols and ritual – even extending to the Eagles? How does the fact that not every society in Middle-earth – not even including the Shire – clearly have a monarchical setup work, and what does it say about the wider structures of Middle-earth in general, even as it is organized ultimately by the Valar via Eru’s viceroy, Manwë? And what kind of garb should a monarch have? (Fabulous, obviously.)

Jared’s doodle. More serene a portrait than some…

Sight Unseen’s Instagram! And catch Oriana in full jog.

Jared’s up for the Astounding Award at WorldCon! (Scroll down near the bottom of the page.) Here’s more details on voting and all.

Ned’s recent Eurowhat podcast appearance. “Milkshake Man,” indeed. Oh and here’s the Serbian philologist. 

Wisconsin Public Radio’s story on scanning and preserving the work of Karen Wynn Fonstad.

Monarchy! It’s a thing! (It’s not a GOOD thing, though.)

Letter 52 from Tolkien’s collected letters, as well as Letter 144.

Ah yes…tax policy.

Thorongil, in brief.

Medieval English monarchy and medieval French, in brief.

Our episode on The War of the Rohirrim, which had (invented) elements of Rohan’s political society.

1930s English fascism? Oh it was out there…

Our episode on The Lost Road.

Our episode on Aldarion and Erendis, which featured Aldarion’s father Meneldur.

The High King of the Noldor! (Sadly, low survival rate.)

Chieftains of the Dúnedain.

Our episode on orcs.

The New Shadow, the famed short LOTR sequel fragment.

Tides of History by Patrick Wyman – a very good listen! – took a look at the Indus Valley civilization a few years back.

The Sceptres of Númenor and Annúminas.

The Crown of Gondor, along with the, well, let’s call it distinct drawing by Tolkien. (Relatedly, the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt.)

Aragorn’s crowning – and his deep breath before turning – as adapted in Peter Jackson’s The Return of the King.

Our episodes on Farmer Giles of Ham and Smith of Wootton Major.

Support By-The-Bywater (and our network) on Patreon, and you can hang out with us in a friendly Discord.