Green Dragon Live

The Nicks are running across Rohan! Or at least the three hunters are. Join us as we attempt to catch up with our enemies in order to rescue our friends, but keep a wary eye out for clues, and for horsemen.

Maps

Map of Middle-earth 

LoTRproject.com interactive map - Caution: spoilers for new readers!

Notes for this episode

• Now we see Aragorn “The greatest traveller and huntsman of this age of the world” (B1C2 - first mention)

• Orcs of different factions
• • White Hand - Orthanc, Saruman’s Uruk Hai - Orc Men
  • Northern - Misty Mountains? Gundabad? Moria
  • From the East - Mordor Orcs
• Aragorn longing for Gondor
• • We see the King waiting for his time
• Eagle! Traveling away back to the North
• First sight of the orcs they’re chasing - 12 leagues or more
• • 1 league = 3 miles
• Spring has come to Rohan
• Hobbit evidence - the brooch
• • (Pippin is smaller - pin)
• Debate to rest or not - Gimli and Legolas stick Aragorn with the choice
• • “An ill chooser”, we see the angst of having had bad chance before
  • We are a side-quest (paraphrase)
  • Choose sleep
• Legolas, standing - do Elves sleep?
• • Rest their minds, sleep with eyes open, blending dreams with wakefulness
• Day 1 - ran all night
• Day 2 - ran all day - debated rest, and slept
• Day 3
• Aragorn hears hoofs - riding northward - “What is happening in this land?”
• Huzzah for lembas
• Observations from the narrator seem to be from Aragorn’s POV he is noting the differences and strangeness along the way
• • Eastemnet - used to be a  place where the Rohirrim helpt their herds but now it is empty (Darkness and danger is growing)
  • Eomer admits to removing all the people and animals for safety - Saruman has claimed the land, and there is war between Isengard and Rohan
• Twice 12 leagues (72 miles) ON FOOT in two days and a night!
• “There is some will that lends speed to our foes and sets an unseen barrier before us.”
• • “The will is not behind (Sauron/Mordor) but before us.”
  • “Saruman”
• Day 4 (after another rest)
• Red Dawn
• The orcs rested - thrice 12 hours between the 2 groups
• End of day 4 - moving slowly
• Day 5
• Fangorn North-west - 10 leagues
• Riders! - 105 - yellow hair - their leader is very tall - 5 leagues away - 3 empty saddles
• Wait for them to approach
• The Rohirrim
• • Proud and willful
  • True-hearted
  • Generous in thought and deed
  • Bold but now cruel
  • Wise but unlearned
  • Writing no books but singing many songs
  • Long friends of Gondor
  • Kin to the Bardings of Dale and the Beornings
  • The horse people
  • Sons or Eorl
  • (Are the men of Dale from the East? Is Rohan the most successful (largest “Easterling” civilization?)
• Eomer (leader) - has a Gondorian accent when speaking the common tongue
• Eomer’s suspicions anger Gimli (Legolas)
• “No evil to Rohan, nor to its folk, neither man or horse.” (are the horses considered folk?)
• Riddermark - “Rider Land”?
• Aragorn draws his sword and names himself.
• • Eomer immediately accepts his claim refers to him as “Lord”
  • “What is the meaning of the dark words?” (The dream that sent Boromir to Rivendell)
  • Eomer knows Boromir, Rohan lent him a horse, which returned riderless
• Halflings! - “Do we walk in legends?”
• Gandalf - known - has lost favor with the king
• Saruman was a friend, now there is trouble
• Shadowfax - the most precious of the king's steeds, Chief of the Mearas (the sire of their race was the great horse of Eorl) (What is this story?)
• 7 nights ago (two days before Boromir died) Shadowfax returned - wild
• Boromir’s death - “great harm is this death to Minas Tirith”
• Wingfoot I name you - 45 leagues on foot in 4 days (135 miles)
• Orcs, slain and burned
• Eomer decides what to do with the travelers - Lends them horses - gets a promise of their coming to the King
• Hasufel and Arod
• Gimli on a horse is as Sam in a boat
• The place of the great burning
• “There are some things it is better to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark.”
• Gimli starts a fire - have a care, cut no living wood - the tree is happy for the warmth, the forest is brooding - dangerous
• And old bend man, white cloak, wide-brimmed hat
• The horses are gone!

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Special thanks to our friend Harry Murrell for the use of his music. Listen to more and subscribe to his channel here.

The Nicks crack open the next named section of the LoTR story and discuss the way the story changes its narrative style and the suspense that comes with it. Boromir's departure from the Fellowship and Aragorn gets some clarity about his mission. Maps

Map of Middle-earth 

LoTRproject.com interactive map - Caution: spoilers for new readers!

Notes for this episode

• Aragorn on the seat of Amon Hen

• The world seems darkened, and there was nothing to see
• THE HORN OF GONDOR!
• Aragorn came too late and missed the fight
• Boromir is dying
• • Sword: broken above the hilt
  • Horn: cloven in two
  • Pierced by many arrows
• The Hobbits are taken!
• Aragorn doesn’t know what to do
• • 1 Find the Ring and the Bearer
  • 2 Go to Minas Tirith as bidden by his heart and Boromir’s dying wish
  • 3 Find the Halflings
  • Everything he has done today is turned to ruin
• Gimli and Legolas slaying in the woods, also too late to help
• The Hobbits were bound, therefore likely still alive
• Finding the Hobbit knives
• • Work of Westernesse
• Symbols of the enemy
• • Strange looking orcs
  • White Hand
  • White ‘S’
  • Not Sauron - Red Eye
  • Saruman - Evil is afoot, and the west is no longer safe
• Tending the fallen.
• • Cannot bury him
  • Give him to Anduin - the River of Gondor
  • Carry him back to the river - hard to do with Boromir being so large and strong
  • Lay him in the boat, and made him presentable.
  • Towed the boat into the water
  • Let him go, and he disappeared over Rauros
  • • “Rauros roared on unchanging”
  • Boromir was not seen again in Minas Tirith
  • It was said that he road his boat down the river all the way to the sea.
  • The song of sorrow - The “people” hearken to the winds for news of Boromir (West, South, and North)
• Only two boats a mystery
• • No orcs
  • 2 packs gone also - Sam’s for sure
  • Aragorn puts the story together by Sam’s words and apparent actions
  • Frodo and Sam have taken the boat across the river
• What to do?
• • Take the last boat after Frodo
  • Or follow the orcs
  • The direct path to Minas Tirith is apparently no longer an option
  • • Aragorn’s personal mission is abandoned for the moment
• Aragorn finally knows what he must do - The company has played its part
• • He must chase after the other hobbits or they will be left to torment and death.
  • “My heart speaks clearly at last. The fate of the Bearer is in my hands no longer”
  • “Yet we that remain cannot forsake our companions while we have strength left.”
  • “We will press on by day and dark… with hope or without hope we will follow the trail of our enemies, and woe to them if we prove the swifter. We will make such a chase that will be accounted a marvel among the three kindreds: elves, dwarves, and men. Forth the three hunters!”
• His mind was, at last, made up and the hunt begins!

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Special thanks to our friend Harry Murrell for the use of his music. Listen to more and subscribe to his channel here.

The Nicks do their first recording in many months. This episode is a reconnecting of two friends and trying to establish a routine for the future of the podcast. The Nicks also talk briefly about Sauron's attacks in the northern parts of Middle-earth and ask if there are elves in the east.

The Nicks are joined by Erin and Aran to give their commentary while watching the extended edition of The Fellowship of The Ring (Disc 2). Cue up your copy and press play with us to listen and watch along with us in this special episode.

We are playing the Extended Edition of the Fellowship of The Ring which has scenes that were either shortened or cut from the theatrical release. This episode covers DISC 2 only.

After a short prelude, we will give a countdown as the cue for when to start the movie. The commentary is uncut and unedited and will run the full length of the film (minus some of the credits).

Thank you for listening, we hope you enjoy this special episode of Green Dragon Live.

The Nicks are joined by Erin and Aran to give their commentary while watching the extended edition of The Fellowship of The Ring. Cue up your copy and press play with us to listen and watch along with us in this special episode. We are playing the Extended Edition of the Fellowship of The Ring which has scenes that were either shortened or cut from the theatrical release. This episode covers DISC 1 only. After a short prelude, we will give a countdown as the cue for when to start the movie. The commentary is uncut and unedited and will run the full length of the film.

Thank you for listening, we hope you enjoy this special episode of Green Dragon Live.

The Nicks might be breaking up a bit in this episode, but it's only fitting as this is the Breaking of the Fellowship! How will the break happen? Is it physical? Or psychological? Which way will Frodo go? Who will go with him? Find out with us, live at the Green Dragon.

Maps

Map of Middle-earth 

LoTRproject.com interactive map - Caution: spoilers for new readers!

Notes for this episode

• Sting shines blue
• Time to think, time to decide
• The group talks about what they will do
• Boromir has big plans
• Boromir cracks and nearly breaks Frodo
• Frodo Escapes up Amon Hen
• Oh The Things You’ll See - while wearing the ring of power on the seat of seeing
• Boromir rejoins the group, gives sparse news
• Aragorn is angry with him, Frodo is missing
• Aragorn tries to organize a search party (there are orcs out there after all) everyone scatters instead
• Sam knows Frodo, feels the pain of being left behind
• Frodo tries to leave
• Sam tries to catch him, but can’t swim
• Sam and Frodo get their gear and take off, the Fellowship is broken.
• Chapter's end
• Book's end - Congratulations you have made it through the Fellowship of The Ring!

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Special thanks to our friend Harry Murrell for the use of his music. Listen to more and subscribe to his channel here.

The Nicks discuss the journey down the great river, the speed at which our Fellowship is cutting across the landscape, and the dangers it holds on either bank. Also discussing the desire to do more recordings with less interference from real life.

Maps

Map of Middle-earth 

LoTRproject.com interactive map - Caution: spoilers for new readers!

Notes for this episode

THEY GOT STUFF

THEY’S ON A RIVER

THEY GOTS BOATS

The Story in this Chapter:

• Floating down the river is boring
• Landscapes change
• Aragorn lets the fellowship kind of just drift along… they don’t paddle too much.
• Merry, Pippin, and Boromir | Aragorn, Frodo, and Sam | Legolas and Gimli
• Boromir acting strangely
• Sam sees eyes and strange logs floating alongside them - or is it catching up with them?
• Sam takes the watch - wakes Frodo
• Frodo sees a thing!  Draws Sting and it flees!
• Aragorn wakes and says that he’s seen it too… and even tried to catch... HIM?!
• They spot an eagle high up in the sky - at the same time they are approaching the Emyn Muil on the Eastern shore - Rohan on the Western shore
• Aragorn knows rapids are coming. They catch him off guard because he’s never traveled by water through this area.
• • Even Sam helps to paddle
  • They have to turn around IN THE RAPIDS
  • All together paddle!
  • Paddle!
  • paddle!
  • Orcs! Yrch!
  • Gollum’s doing?
  • Twangs of bowstrings -- they hit Frodo!
• A deeper blackness in the sky
• • Legolas shoots it down
  • The orcs seem to retreat
• Fellowship reach the safety of the opposite shore, and wait out the night
• Confusion about the moon… Aragorn finally reveals that they spent a lot more time in Lorien than any of them expected. -- Winter is almost over!!!
• In the morning Aragorn and Legolas scout the portage road around the rapids
• • It’s easy to find
  • It is not as hard to carry everything as it could be.
  • Boromir and Aragorn carry the boats
• Rapids (Sarn Gebir)
• BEHOLD THE ARGONATH!
• Parth Galen the grassy shore on the western side
• Nen Hithoel - the lake above Rauros
• Amon Hen - the Hill of Seeing - The Seat of Seeing - Western Shore
• Amon Lhaw - the Hill of Hearing - Eastern Shore
• Tol Brandir - The island in the middle of Nen Hithoel where none has ever set foot.
• Rauros - The great falls of the Anduin

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"Five Armies" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Special thanks to our friend Harry Murrell for the use of his music. Listen to more and subscribe to his channel here.

The Nicks dive into this chapter of gift giving by asking which of the Fellowship's gifts would you steal, or what gift would you ask of Lady Galadriel? We discuss the differences between the movie gifts and the book. And, in spite of not making an actual plan, we prepare ourselves for a long trek downriver. 

Maps

Map of Middle-earth 

LoTRproject.com interactive map - Caution: spoilers for new readers!

Notes for this episode

• Summoned up to see Lord and Lady
• It's time to go.
• Celeborn talks over what lay ahead -- east is over Emyn Muil, west goes into Rohan/Fangorn and ultimately leads to Minas Tirith.
• • Aragorn is doubtful and troubled. (Remember gandalf’s plan!)
  • Celeborn offers boats - this could prolong the decision!
• The Fellowship take their own council
• • Majority choose to go west and make for Minas Tirith.
  • Aragorn is quiet.
  • Boromir makes his case -- “throw away what?”
• Gifted cloaks, Lembas, and rope
• Haldir comes back to escort them out of Caras Galadhon to the waters.
• Gifted boats!
• Off down the river
• Giant swan swims closer…  oh dear.
• GALADRIEL -- she sings to them with a harp.
• Lord and Lady invite them to eat together as a farewell.
• Gifts are given.
• • Aragorn gets a sheath for Anduril and the Elfstone
  • Boromir gets a golden belt
  • Merry/Pippin small silver belts with a golden flower clasp
  • Legolas gets a bow of the Galadhrim strung with elf hair and a quiver of arrows.
  • Sam gets a small box - adorned with a G for Galadriel/Garden, filled with soil from the orchard of Galadriel blessed in the way she may.
  • Gimli - what gift would a Dwarf ask of the Lady?  
• Sees them off.
• Galadriel sings another song.
• The set off down the river Aragorn/Frodo/Sam, Boromir/Pippin/Merry, Legolas/Gimli -- Bromance of the story!

Other comments or observations:

The story is picking up again.  Gird your loins!

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Special thanks to our friend Harry Murrell for the use of his music. Listen to more and subscribe to his channel here.

The Nicks get down to business by talking about the elephant in the room, this elephant being the new baby boy in Nicholas' family! Also, we meet the Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim - Celeborn, and Galadriel. Later, Galadriel shows two of our fellowship her magic mirror.

Maps

Map of Middle-earth 

LoTRproject.com interactive map - Caution: spoilers for new readers!

Notes for this episode

OUR FELLOWSHIP HAS ENTERED THE ENCHANTED FOREST

ELVES FROM WITHIN HAVE CLEARED THE ORC SCUM WITHOUT!

OUR FELLOWSHIP HAS BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH THE SECRETS OF THE GOLDEN WOOD

WHAT WILL THEY FIND WITHIN THE CITY OF GREEN TOWERS?

WILL THE LORD AND LADY BE GRACIOUS?

HAS ANYONE PAID MIND TO BILL THE PONY?

WILL THE COMPANY’S HEARTS FALTER UNDER THE LADY’S GAZE?

The story in this chapter

• Approaching Caras Galadhon
• Long walk up
• Meeting Celeborn and Galadriel
• Testing hearts
• Rest
• Frodo starts to feel like it’s time to go
• Galadriel shows Frodo and Sam the mirror
• Sam and the mirror
• Frodo and the mirror
• Galadriel and the Ring
• Galadriel and the other Ring
• Passing the test - does everyone have to pass the test

Links

greendragonlive.com

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"Five Armies" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Special thanks to our friend Harry Murrell for the use of his music. Listen to more and subscribe to his channel here.

The Nicks talk about stepping out of time in special and awe-inspiring places, as well as being too close to the special things near you. Our Fellowship makes a dash for the woods, in spite of the potential of danger within. Aragorn is forced to take the lead after Gandalf's fall, and now they take the last known road in the plan created in Rivendell.

Maps

Map of Middle-earth 

LoTRproject.com interactive map - Caution: spoilers for new readers!

Notes for this episode

BESIEGED BY ORCS!

AN ANCIENT FOE OF FIRE AND FLAME!

THE FELLOWSHIP FLEES TO THE EASTERN GATE

GANDALF MAKES A STAND AND SACRIFICES HIMSELF FOR THE FELLOWSHIP

ARAGORN NOW LEADS…

THE DRUMS OF THE ENEMY FADE AWAY

WHAT WILL BECOME OF OUR FELLOWSHIP?

WHAT AWAITS THEM ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ONCE GLORIOUS KHAZAD-DUM?

The Story in this Chapter:

• Grieving the loss of Gandalf
• • Need to press on.
  • Rushing so quickly that they forgot that Sam and Frodo had been wounded and the company was lagging behind Aragorn and Legolas.
• Significance of the Geography
• • They stop to look back at the peaks.  Woe unto them for Caradhras having defeated them.
  • Kheled-zaram - the Mirrormere - Durin’s Crown
  • Entering the wood
  • Silverlode - Celebrant
  • Another river Nimrodel - Falls the voice of Nimrodel
  • • They take a break.  Legolas sings.
    • Haldir and co.
  • Flets and the Galadhrim -- “Tree People”
  • • Sleeping in a flet/floor
    • Passage in.  but caveat.  Blindfolded
    • Gimli, then Legolas, then everyone. - Aragorn’s decision
  • Celebrant - the crossing into the Naith of Lorien
  • Cerin Amroth
  • Looking to Dol Guldur - Two towers set in opposition
  • • Dol Guldur is inhabited - but by whom?
• Political News
• • Allies being untrusting (this is the crux) (page 339 NJ copy)
• Significance of the Fellowship in Lorien and the interactions between the races
• • A DWARF in Lorien!!!?!?!?!! ZOMG!!!
  • Aragorn in Lorien
  • Legolas in Lorien
• Experience/growth/etc. of the hobbits.
• • Crossing the River Celebrant

Links

Battle Beast - King for a Day

Battle Beast - I Want the World... and Everything In It

greendragonlive.com

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"Five Armies" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Special thanks to our friend Harry Murrell for the use of his music. Listen to more and subscribe to his channel here.