The Flame Imperishable

We're taking a break from the Silmarillion this week to dive into Tolkien's essay 'On Fairy Stories'. This essay is essentially Tolkien's blueprint on how he approaches writing a fairy story and it gives a revealing glimpse into the mind that gave us The Lord of the Rings. 

Lots of Setup this week as we meet Maeglin, hang out in Gondor, meet his creeper of a father, and (to no one's surprise) run into tragedy. Then we move on to the migration of men into Beleirand and the deluge of names and geography that brings with it. 

This week we discuss Feanor's return to Middle Earth and the havoc the Noldor bring with them. Lots of geography, politics, and drama. And we found a city or two. 

This week we're discussing the arrival of the Dwarves, the creation of Menegroth, and the wars of Beleriand. We move on to the mythological origin of the sun and moon, the hiding of Valinor, and then wrap it up with the arrival of Men. 

We discuss some of the most important chapters of the Silmarillion this week: The darkening of Valinor and the Flight of the Noldor. We take some time to discuss Tom Bombadil, The Nameless Things, and Ungoliant. And of course, more geography along with a heaping dose of Catholicism. What could be better.

In this episode we discuss Thingol and Melian, and then get into the many long lineages of not just the Noldor but also the Trees of Valinor. We wrap up with a discussion of Feanor being temperamental. And did I mention all the geography all the time? 

In this episode we open with a discussion of the Red Book of Westmarch. We then move on to discussing chapters 1-3 of the Quenta Silmarillion. 

Welcome to Episode 1 of The Flame Imperishable. We're going to be reading through and discussing the SIlmarillion. In this first episode, we're covering the first two books of the Silmarillion: The Ainulindalë and the Valaquenta.