This week, the halls of the Elven King in chapter nine of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, "Barrels Out Of Bond". Is this the moment that The Hobbit becomes a fantasy novel? How does Bilbo's luck relate to eucatastrophe? Do these elves really seem like elves?

You can see the video version of this podcast here, and the slides are available for download by clicking here.

Show Notes:

• Shire Reckoning Production Schedule
• The History of the Hobbit (John D. Rateliff)
• A Map of Middle-earth (Pauline Baynes)
• Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (Corey Olsen)
• The Atlas of Middle-earth (Karen Wyn Fonstad)

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

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Music by Corvus from Pixabay.