If you haven't read the Appendices to the Lord of the Rings, but you've seen the movies, you might be wondering how Aragorn can be the descendant of Elendil and Isildur and yet he's seemingly a random wanderer far from Gondor.  Wonder no more, because I'm going to explain the history of the other kingdom of the Dunedain: the northern kingdom of Arnor.    

Video on the Disaster of the Gladden Fields: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-s2BljVvCU  

The video on Numenor is here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqDslbXjg70  

Oh, and that awesome map of Middle Earth?  Get it (with 3 others) here: https://www.amazon.com/Maps-Tolkiens-Middle-earth-Brian-Sibley/dp/061839110X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1493809054&sr=8-2&keywords=maps+of+middle+earth

Tolkien eventually did write a full account of how Isildur lost the Ring, but it didn't reach the public until Christopher Tolkien published the Unfinished Tales.  Here's the story.  

The Unfinished Tales can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Tales-Lost-Lore-Middle-earth/dp/0345357116  

Video on the Kingdom of Arnor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t0zfrkinqc  

Oh, and that awesome map of Middle Earth?  Get it (with 3 others) here: https://www.amazon.com/Maps-Tolkiens-Middle-earth-Brian-Sibley/dp/061839110X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1493809054&sr=8-2&keywords=maps+of+middle+earth

Tolkien's view of fantasy includes the idea that creating fantasy is an act of "sub-creation," but he also made the idea of sub-creation a powerful theme in The Silmarillion.  This video explores how he used that theme.

In this video I explain the history and significance of Aragorn's ring, the ring of Barahir.

The island of Numenor was a relatively late addition to Tolkien's Middle Earth mythology, but it turned out to be tremendously important.  In this video I get into the basic history of Numenor in Middle Earth, and explain a few interesting facts about it as well.  

Most of our information about the island of Numenor comes from the Silmarillion: https://www.amazon.com/Silmarillion-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0544338014/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482069523&sr=8-1&keywords=silmarillion  

With some additional information found in the Unfinished Tales: https://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-N%C3%BAmenor-Middle-earth-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0544337999/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482069566&sr=8-1&keywords=unfinished+tales+tolkien  

But its origins lie in a story Tolkien never finished: https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Other-Writings-History-Middle-Earth/dp/0345406850/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482069606&sr=1-1&keywords=the+lost+road+and+other+writings

Friends don't let friends watch dumb pop culture site videos about Tolkien, so I'm here to clear things up in case anyone was fooled by the lazy ideas spouted by Grunge.com.

For my video on Merry's role in killing the Witch King, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJKnsNlwgNw&t=758s

And for more on why the Eagles didn't just fly Frodo to Mount Doom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EtgU3tf_oQ

If you really want to watch Grunge's video, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g75laLtd_k

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You can support my channel by visiting my Patreon page: www.patreon.com/tolkiengeek.

The Story of Kullervo provides an interesting look at Tolkien's creative process and some of his source material for the Silmarillion.

We all know Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings, and many of us are familiar with the Silmarillion and perhaps the fact that he was a philologist by profession.  But did you know he wrote several other pieces of fiction?  This video explores one of them, "Smith of Wootton Major," which lies somewhere near the epicenter of Tolkien's work in the sense that it incorporates some of his personal views on "Faerie story".

"Leaf by Niggle" (aka "Tree and Leaf") is the closest thing Tolkien ever wrote to an autobiography, though it's still very much a fictional short story.  It gives us just a peek inside his personal aspirations and frustrations.

In this video I discuss the theory that Aragorn's choice of a family name, "Telcontar," is intended as way to make Tolkien a part of his own mythology.  I discuss the pros and cons of the theory, but if you think I missed something, chime in with a comment!