Discussion of The Fellowship of the Ring, Chapter One

Join Maggie and Cam as they say goodbye to Bilbo and finally meet Frodo! This first chapter of Fellowship is a fascinating riff on the first chapter of The Hobbit. We break down the similarities and differences between the chapters and investigate Tolkien's continued interest in class commentary about the Shire. The narrator is less irreverent and involved this time around (much to Cam's dismay) but characters like Gandalf and Frodo are as important here as Bilbo was to The Hobbit. This episode investigates the big Party's multifaceted nature – at the very same time, it feels like a funeral, a wedding, and a graduation party. Maggie looks at the Ring's effect on Bilbo after nearly sixty years and Cam worries about him giving away all of his possessions (again) and getting his affairs in order (again). We close with a discussion of scale and expectations as we head into the enormity of The Lord of the Rings.

In our Second Breakfast, we discuss the difficulties of genre franchising by comparing Tolkien's Middle-earth books with the various remakes, reboots, and "recalibrations" of John Carpenter's 1978 slasher classic Halloween. Trust us, it's weirdly relevant – Michael Myers is Tolkien's magic system. Cam forces some Shakespeare into the discussion as well, we share our love of Eli Roth, and Maggie can't stop buying pretty new copies of LOTR.

Have an observation, comment, or theory on this episode? Email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Instagram @secondbreakfastpod