Peter Jackson’s and even Ralph Bakshi’s movies give the impression that Isildur single-handedly took down the Dark Lord Sauron, and while this isn’t exactly accurate, it turns out they did get one detail right.

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In a letter, Tolkien stated that The Lord of the Rings was a “fundamentally religious and Catholic” work, which seems strange given the lack of obvious religion in the story.  A close look, however, reveals numerous examples of the author’s theology in all his Middle-earth stories.

For videos discussing many of these ideas in further detail, check the links below:

Fate and free will generally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIzDndXGRsY

Fate and free will in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvVkE3bBmzM

Fate and free will in the story of Turin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lROuU1RPDpU

Fate and free will in Tolkien vs. The Adjustment Bureau: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pw4CO58N8g

Providence in Tolkien vs. “Passengers”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UCmnGxJSfI

Decline, fall, and restoration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLme8xfiY6o

Evil and banal and empty (compared to “Megamind”): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-jhi1pMSA0

Morality vs. law: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ggh4oAdiXM

The Athrabeth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwi7_nABWDI

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With so many characters, the Lord of the Rings is bound to have some you relate to, some you look up to, and some you recognize as real world villains....

You can check out my half-serious personality quiz here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Df6sQKuVGU

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The Tolkien Estate website recently got a huge makeover, including a much large FAQ section which sent the fandom into a tizzy about how draconian it appeared they would be regarding copyright and trademark violations.  How big a deal is this exactly?  Here’s some basic info and thoughts from a legal mind.

DISCLAIMER: I may be an attorney but I DO NOT practice IP law and nothing I say should be construed as legal advice or considered legal opinion.

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Rounding out my discussion of fate and free will in Middle-earth, here’s a comparison of how Tolkien handles these topics with the 2011 film, “The Adjustment Bureau.”

For a crash course on how Tolkien handles the topic broadly, see my first video in this mini-series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIzDndXGRsY

I also have videos on these themes in the story of Turin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lROuU1RPDpU) and in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvVkE3bBmzM)

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In a followup to our previous collaboration (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZLce_96994) dealing with various literary criticisms of The Lord of the Rings, GirlNextGondor and I take on the Michael Moorcock essay “Epic Pooh.”    

If you want to read Epic Pooh for yourself, you can do so here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/currentstudents/undergraduate/modules/en361fantastika/bibliography/2.7moorcock_m.1978epic_pooh.pdf 

For GirlNextGondor’s video on how the Shire is NOT an idyllic utopia, click here (but only if you promise not to take it personally!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jylGmnltxNQ 

And of course you should totally subscribe to her channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/GirlNextGondor  

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There has been a huge amount of digital ink spilled since Amazon dropped the teaser trailer for The Rings of Power.  I have thoughts that I need to unburden, which hopefully will help everyone to have a more civil discussion.

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The themes of fate and choice are heavy in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and they show us that while many things are outside of our control, our own decisions may have the greatest impact on our own story.

For some background on the concepts of fate and free will, check this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIzDndXGRsY

For an analysis of how these themes play out in the story of Turin Turambar, check this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lROuU1RPDpU

For more detail on how Gollum came to destroy the Ring, I have a whole video on that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVSFfrQrFIc

And if you’re interested in the luck/providence angle, check my video comparing Tolkien’s stories to the movie “Passengers”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UCmnGxJSfI

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A viewer asked in the comments if I could do a video on how the book descriptions of characters compared to the movie portrayals, so here’s a video breaking down what the members of the Fellowship (plus Gollum!) should have looked like, and which movie did the best for each.

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