This week, we return home to Bag End and consider the consequences of Bilbo's adventure in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Is the Shire different now? What are the signs that we're back in the normal world? What has tired the Tookish part of our hero, and strengthened the Bagginsish?

The video version of this session is available by clicking here; the slides are available for download by clicking here.

Show Notes:

• Shire Reckoning Production Schedule
• The History of the Hobbit (John D. Rateliff)
• The Annotated Hobbit (Douglas A. Anderson)

Shire Reckoning is a Next Word production. For bonus episodes and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/NextWord.

Follow Shire Reckoning on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.

Music by Corvus from Pixabay.

This week, the aftermath of the Battle of Five Armies in Chapter 18 of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Why don't we see Thorin's moment of redemption? Is his heroism enough to break the dragon-sickness for everyone else too? Is wisdom the right word for Bilbo's Baggins side?

The video version of this session is available by clicking here; the slides are available for download by clicking here.

Show Notes:

• Shire Reckoning Production Schedule
• The History of the Hobbit (John D. Rateliff)
• The Annotated Hobbit (Douglas A. Anderson)

Shire Reckoning is a Next Word production. For bonus episodes and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/NextWord.

Follow Shire Reckoning on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.

Music by Corvus from Pixabay.

This week, the Battle of Five Armies in Chapters 15 and 16 of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Is gold peculiarly evil in Tolkien's world? Does Thoring really value the Arkenstone above all things? Where and when does eucatastrophe intervene? 

The video version of this session is available by clicking here; the slides are available for download by clicking here.

Show Notes:

• Shire Reckoning Production Schedule
• Morgoth's Ring (Christopher Tolkien)
• The History of the Hobbit (John D. Rateliff)
• The Annotated Hobbit (Douglas A. Anderson)

Shire Reckoning is a Next Word production. For bonus episodes and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/NextWord.

Follow Shire Reckoning on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.

Music by Corvus from Pixabay.

This week, we return to the Lonely Mountain in Chapter 15 of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, "The Gathering Of The Clouds". Are two talking birds too many? How do we distinguish between Roäc, son of Carc, and the humble thrush? How does dragon sickness work?

The video version of this session is available by clicking here; the slides are available for download by clicking here.

Show Notes:

• Shire Reckoning Production Schedule
• The History of the Hobbit (John D. Rateliff)

Shire Reckoning is a Next Word production. For bonus episodes and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/NextWord.

Follow Shire Reckoning on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.

Music by Corvus from Pixabay.

This week, we switch our focus away from the Lonely Mountain to discover what happened to Smaug in Chapter 14 of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, "Fire And Water". Does Bard become more three-dimensional every time we see him? Are the people of Esgaroth really wrong to believe in prophecy? Why is Smaug's final resting place cursed?

The video version of this session is available by clicking here; the slides are available for download by clicking here.

Show Notes:

• Shire Reckoning Production Schedule
• The History of the Hobbit (John D. Rateliff)
• Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (Corey Olsen)

Shire Reckoning is a Next Word production. For bonus episodes and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/NextWord.

Follow Shire Reckoning on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.

Music by Corvus from Pixabay.

This week, we consider the dragons of Middle-earth: Glaurung, Ancalagon, Smaug and (to a much lesser extent) Scatha. Why are dragons so significant to Professor Tolkien and to his Legendarium? Why are the four named dragons so different from one another? Are there hidden dragons in The Lord of the Rings?

Thanks to Jules for the question!

Show Notes

• Groundbreakers: Icons of our Time (Christie's)
• Robert Plant's Led Zeppelin Bandmates Had No Idea He Was Referencing Tolkien In The Band's Lyrics (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert)
• The Uinendili and Political Branding in Tolkien (Jeff La Sala)
• Númenor: the Downfall is in the Details (Thomas Hillman)

Shire Reckoning is a Next Word production. For bonus episodes and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/NextWord.

Follow @ShireReckoningPod on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.

Music by Corvus from Pixabay.  

This week, Thorin and Company finally recover at least a small amount of their treasure in Chapter 13 of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, "Not At Home". What is the Arkenstone? For whom was Bilbo's mithril shirt made? Who is not at home, and why?

The video version of this session is available by clicking here; the slides are available for download by clicking here.

Show Notes:

• Shire Reckoning Production Schedule
• The History of the Hobbit (John D. Rateliff)
• Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (Corey Olsen)

Shire Reckoning is a Next Word production. For bonus episodes and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/NextWord.

Follow Shire Reckoning on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.

Music by Corvus from Pixabay.

This week, a Q&A special in which we consider the nature of good and evil in a world made by a benevolent God, the tragedy (or not) of Fëanor, and the Ring of the Witch-King of Angmar.

Thanks to Steph, Fergus and Angela for the questions!

Show Notes

• The Prancing Pony Podcast Moot: Call For Papers
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2026 AMC Event)
• In The Forest Singing Sorrowless (Joy Shannon)

Shire Reckoning is a Next Word production. For bonus episodes and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/NextWord.

Follow @ShireReckoningPod on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.

Music by Corvus from Pixabay.  

This week, we reach the Lonely Mountain in Chapter Twelve of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, "Inside Information". Is Bilbo a leader now? How do we understand the symbolic and symbiotic connection between the dragon and the horde? Is Bilbo's riddling introduction to Smaug his best moment in the book?

The video version of this session is available by clicking here; the slides are available for download by clicking here.

Show Notes:

• Shire Reckoning Production Schedule
• The History of the Hobbit (John D. Rateliff)
• Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (Corey Olsen)

Shire Reckoning is a Next Word production. For bonus episodes and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/NextWord.

Follow Shire Reckoning on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.

Music by Corvus from Pixabay.

This week, in an extra-length episode of Shire Reckoning, we dive into the riddle of Tom Bombadil. Who and what is Tom? How do we understand his unique qualities from the text? How does he fit with the cosmology that Tolkien presents to us?

Show Notes

• Peg Wooden Dolls
• And his feet are faster -- Old Tom's Trochees (FR 1.viii.142) (Tom Hillman)
• The Bodley Medal
• Is it a critical mineral or a Tolkien invention? (The Guardian)
• Tolkien Fanfiction Survey
• Imagining 'Britain': Decolonising Tolkien et al
• Lothlórien: Gendered Spaces, Cartographic Nominalism, and Galadriel’s Queerness (Kampmann Walther)
• The Bright Sword and its Sharpness: Swords, Symbolism, and Medievalism in The Lord of the Rings (Gavin S. Davis)
• Gavin the Medievalist (YouTube)
• Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century (Dan Sinykin and Johanna Winant)

Shire Reckoning is a Next Word production. For bonus episodes and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/NextWord.

Follow @ShireReckoningPod on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.

Music by Corvus from Pixabay.