After a long reign as King, Aragorn finally takes his rest, and a great beauty was revealed in him; after a season of the PPP, Alan takes a week off, and… well, the comparison ends there. Join The Man of the West and The Shieldmaiden of Rohan for an unexpected episode as we conclude the now three-part discussion of The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen from Appendix A of The Lord of the Rings. Arwen tries to convince Aragorn to wait (if you leave me now, you’ll take away the very heart of me); Aragorn speaks no comfort to her, but offers hope; and Arwen’s death is even more tragic than at first glance. Alan and Sara ask why Elrond didn’t stick around a bit longer, think through what “the Elder Days” means now, and accuse Ar-Pharazôn of dining and dashing. Also, Alan asks Sara about The War of the Rohirrim.

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After years away doing errantry, Aragorn returns to Rivendell, looking like an Elf-lord. After a week away doing a few errands, Alan returns to the Common Room, looking much the same. Join The Man of the West and The Shieldmaiden of Rohan for the second of three episodes on The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen from Appendix A of The Lord Of the Rings. Aragorn just couldn’t stand to be kept away, Arwen renounces the Twilight, and Elrond sets the highest of bars. Alan and Sara discuss the importance of choice, renounce Twilight too, and advise you to get betrothed for the job you want, not the job you have. Also, Alan feels a pressing need to change his nickname.

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Gilraen’s mom and dad have differing opinions on whether she should marry Arathorn; Alan and Sara just have differing opinions. Join The Man of the West and The Shieldmaiden of Rohan as we begin a two-part series — which rapidly becomes three parts — on The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen as the PPP returns to Appendix A in The Lord Of the Rings. Aragorn strays into a dream and discovers she’s the meaning in his life, she’s the inspiration; Elrond seems to learn a lesson from Thingol’s error; and Aragorn has some errantry to run. Alan and Sara wonder what song Aragorn was singing, speculate about Aragorn’s teenage angst, and decide that Aragorn’s journeys must have taken him at least 500 miles from Arwen’s door. Also, Sara’s retirement dreams: bon-bons in the Hall of Fire.

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It’s time to come into the Common Room with The Man of the West and The Shieldmaiden of Rohan as we answer listener questions again in our 30th Questions After Nightfall! From the necessity of real-world physics to whose brooch did Bombadil find; from Fëanor’s favorite games to Thingol’s quite-appropriate guilt, our listeners always bring their A game… or would that be their Q game? Alan is confusticated and bebothered, and Sara reminds us all of how Tolkien could do all that he did. Also, never disrespect librarians.

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Join the Tolkien fandom and community — along with The Man of the West and The Lord of the Mark — for the PPP’s 10th annual Tolkien Reading Day, observed every March 25 in honor of the destruction of the Ring and the downfall of Barad-dûr. This year’s theme, as chosen by the Tolkien Society, is Fellowship and Community — and not only do we have some incredible readings that showcase this year’s them, the PPP is demonstrating its own fellowship by bringing in each of the co-hosts from the last two seasons! Matt stops the story of Beleg where it ought to have ended, Don sings a bath song, James prepares to say goodbye to Rivendell, Sara leaves the Quenya for Alan, and Shawn makes Alan feel at home.

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The Man of the West bids farewell to The Nerd of the Rings, as they welcome everyone’s favorite ancient and military historian back to the PPP: Dr. Bret Devereaux, author of A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry returns to answer an absurd number of questions that Alan and Matt have come up with from their last ten episodes. We get our 40k references out of the way early, discover Bret doesn’t read Old Norse, get an expert explanation of weregild, and have our eyes opened to Helm Hammerhand’s missteps. We also discuss peace through Black Death, wonder what the Quenya would be for “It’s all yours, buddy”, and lament the fact that the tales, they are so unfinished. Also, the emperor’s name is spelled Pupienus, just to be clear.

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The Marshals of the Mark faithfully serve the King by leading their trained Riders in battle; Matt faithfully serves Alan by… well, we’re still figuring that one out. Join The Man of the West and The Nerd of the Rings as they dive into the inner workings of Rohan’s command structure in our final episode on The Battles of the Fords of Isen from Unfinished Tales. Turns out Théoden was pretty young as far as Kings of Rohan go, Éomer gets all the duties of a job without its title, and it turns out keeping the key to a fortress hundreds of miles away doesn’t work out so well. We spend more time with French than we’re comfortable with, issue extra pedantry points, and speculate about all the terrible things that would have happened had Gandalf stayed dead. Also, Alan alarmingly (and annoyingly) alliterates again.

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Erkenbrand takes command of the West-mark after the death of Théodred; Matt makes it clear that, in the event of Alan’s death, he wants no such responsibility. Join us as there is a coincidence of calendars in our second episode on The Battles of the Fords of Isen from Unfinished Tales. Grimbold stands firm by the Fords, Elfhelm is the Admiral Ackbar of Rohan, and none of it really matters because quantity has a quality all its own. Matt breaks out his best Ent voice, we lament the adaptation fates of Erkenbrand, Tom Bombadil, and Glorfindel, and agree it would be a nice day for a white wizard. Also, in Bilbo’s next book, he interviews Fingolfin on challenging Morgoth: “I’ve had better days.” Finally, here’s the link we promised for Tom Shippey’s talk: https://www.swarthmore.edu/news-events/tolkien-book-to-jackson-script-medium-and-message

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The Rohirrim are loyal to Théoden, even in his dotage; Matt’s loyalty to Alan is in doubt. Join us as Saruman begins his assault on Rohan with a strategic faux pas in the first of three episodes covering The Battles of the Fords of Isen from Unfinished Tales. Wormtongue pits brother against brother, Théodred proves to be the Faramir of Rohan, and Grimbold and Elfhelm save what’s left of a very bad day. We ask when a brother is like a father, wonder where Éomer was when the Fords fell, and explain unfortunate sports analogies. Also, Alan changes his mind: will wonders never cease?

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Isildur counsels his successors to bring their heirs to the Hill of Awe to reveal the secrets of the realm; Alan and Matt wonder if there’s a Gondorian equivalent to Area 51. Join us as we step back in time to the establishment of the Tradition of Isildur in our final episode on Cirion & Eorl. Isildur gets out a map and points to the middle (like putting a memorial to George Washington in the middle of Kansas), the Stewards play rules-lawyer to justify their going to the hallow and then hardly ever go, and Cirion makes a tough decision about exhumation. We discover that Tolkien thinks he’d squandered his best “motifs and characters” in The Hobbit, discover that an absence of dead people means an absence of alfirin, and suggest that you talk to your doctor to see if Meneldil is right for you. Also, a Barrow-wight that sounds a little like Tom Bombadil.

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