This week, Bilbo escapes from the dark and climbs a tree in Chapter Six of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. How is the Wild different from the West? How do we understand the focus and the orientation of Goblin Town? Why did Gandalf have to say giant?

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 Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
• J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia (ed. Michael D. C. Drout)

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.