Tolkien scholar Dr. Lisa Coutras joins Fr. Andrew to discuss chapter 15 of The Hobbit, “The Gathering of the Clouds.” Together they ponder balding ravens and whether Thorin is acting like an Antichrist, wrapping up with a short reading from The Two Towers that introduces Eowyn.

Richard is rejoined by Dr. Augusta Hardy. Together, they explore the saddest of all of the Great Tales of the First Age of Middle-earth: the Tale of the Children of Hurin, and discuss the dangers of Protagonist Syndrome. Also, Augusta talks about the bad boys of Middle-earth, and enrolls her name in the Amon Sul Faramir Appreciation Society.

Richard joins Fr. Andrew to discuss chapter 14 of The Hobbit, “Fire and Water.” Bard gets introduced, Smaug sleeps with the fishes, and the dream of gold comes back into everyone’s hearts. Richard reads a little-known Tolkien dragon poem, and Fr. Andrew makes a corvid joke.

Fr. Andrew joins Richard as The Last Homely House returns after being closed for renovations. They discuss Chapter 20 of the Quenta Silmarillion: The Fifth Battle, and also talk a good bit about Beowulf and Germanic myths, legends, and poetry. What’s the coolest moment in the Silmarillion? What hath Telchar wrought in the deeps of time? What kind of submission hold DID Beowulf use on Grendel? All of this and more in this month’s installment of The Last Homely House.

Dcn. Nicholas Kotar joins Fr. Andrew to cover chapter 13 of The Hobbit, “Not at Home.” The dwarves have a look around inside the mountain while the dragon is away, and Bilbo picks up a couple souvenirs.

Dr. Cyril Jenkins joins Fr. Andrew to cover chapter 12 of The Hobbit, “Inside Information.” Dragons sit on gold, conversations are had with the wyrm, and key narrative links are made to Beowulf and the Volsungasaga. But what does it mean to be King Under the Mountain?

Fr. Anthony Cook returns to The Last Homely House to talk about the autobiographical origins of the earliest version of the story of Beren & Luthien. Richard and Fr. Anthony read the wild and wonderful Tale of Tinuviel, discussing love, marriage, cats, dogs, and spiders along the way. And, we find out that actually, Fr. Anthony doesn’t need his legs.

Pop culture columnist and fantasy fiction writer Elizabeth Dresdow joins the podcast to discuss chapter 11 of The Hobbit, “On the Doorstep.” She shares her thoughts on “The Rings of Power” and its reception and explores with Fr. Andrew why the Dwarves can’t seem to remember that they have a key. They wrap up with reading an iconic moment from LOTR and a prophetic jaunt toward Isengard.

In this second installment of our mini-series on Beren and Luthien, Richard Rohlin is joined by Andrea with the Bangs. Together, they talk about the masculine and the feminine, the difference between masculine and feminine heroic archetypes, and the way that those archetypes come together to create what is not just one of the most important stories of the legendarium, but one of the most beautiful stories ever written.

Michael Haldas returns to the podcast to talk with Fr. Andrew about chapter 10 of The Hobbit, “A Warm Welcome,” in which Bilbo and the Dwarves arrive at Laketown. But what is the lost history of the city-state of Dale? What does it mean to be the Master? And what happens when your legends show up and walk through town? They discuss all this and more, but first they respond to a listener question about whether Sam might have actually been the better Ring-bearer.