Prologue [Fellowship of the Ring]

Discussion of The Fellowship of the Ring, Prologue, Note on the Text, Forward to the Second Edition

Join Maggie and Cam as they read through Tolkien’s introduction to The Lord of the Rings. For the first and only time, we get to hear Tolkien’s opinions and preamble on his own work. We explore the implications of his strong opinions on allegory and self-expressed motivations for telling these stories. We also consider the timeline of LOTR’s production (18 years!) and Tolkien’s new judgment of hobbits and their lifestyle. He outlines their feelings on politics and policing, foreign wars and class conflict, and even slips in some provocations about “pipe-weed” that make us think hobbits might be hippies. His recap of the events of The Hobbit include some interesting suggestions about the powers of the Ring that lead us into a renewed argument about greed and corruption. Cam, once again, asks who the narrator is.

Because this conversation went loooong, we will be releasing our Second Breakfast segment as a stand-alone Elevensies episode later this week. It’s a doozy of a discussion about “black and white morality” and morally grey storytelling.

Have an observation, comment, or theory on this episode? Email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Instagram @secondbreakfastpod