The Lord of the Rings Expert Answers Tolkien Questions From Twitter | Tech Support | WIRED
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- Опубликовано: 12 ноя 2020
- The Tolkien Professor, Cory Olsen, uses the power of Twitter to answer the internet's burning questions about J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, and all the associated lore. Does Sauron use any weapons? Do compasses exist in Middle-Earth? Is there a Tolkien book about the Goblin and Dwarf Great War? Cory answers all these questions and much more.
Corey Olsen, also known as The Tolkien Professor, is the Founder and President of Signum University, a nonprofit higher education institution dedicated to affordable and accessible online learning with a special focus on promoting the humanities. Through the Mythgard Academy, a Signum institution, Corey offers weekly explorations of The Lord of the Rings and other opportunities to discuss speculative literature and adaptations. Follow Corey on Twitter at / tolkienprof
Learn more:
* Signum University: signumuniversity.org
* Exploring The Lord of the Rings: mythgard.org/lotro/exlotr/
* The Tolkien Professor: tolkienprofessor.com
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Развлечения
Check out part 2 HERE: ruclips.net/video/bC7ckGiCd3I/видео.html
need part 3.
And part 4, 5 and 6
@@RalphRoberts1 morgan freeman meme: "he speeks the truth you know"
I might be temporarily drunk, but at least I'm not as permanently mentally handicapped as you lot.
Thanks for making a part 2! Please consider making a part 3! I really like this guy.
This guy really knows what he’s tolkien about
*sad trombone noises*
🎷
I saw what you did there.
That comment deserves a like
Just....just take it. +1
@@THAToneGUY594 + 2
Inject another 8 hours of this straight into my veins.
Aye, check out "Exploring the Lord of the Rings" with Dr. Corey Olsen/ Mythgard academy. It's been a blast! If we're lucky, we'll finish the books by 2050 lmao
I support that!
You can get the 10 year version of this by going trough his thousands of podcast episodes.
Hahahaha 😂😂😂
@@tarnished_knight_ Just subscribed! Can't wait!! 😊
Arwen: I abandon my immortality for my beloved.
Legolas: Hey Gimli, wanna break into heaven?
One does not simply walk into heaven
@@Hardcore_Drug_Abuse95 It's in the appendices and completely canon.
@@ImpudentInfidel did you just miss a LOTR reference while making one?
@@ultrabigfella I noticed the reference, but also took it at face value. My bad!
@@ImpudentInfidel If we're going ignore the joke and nerd over this, I want in too! Gimli actually *doesn't* go to heaven. Neither does Legolas nor any other elf. Because Aman _isn't_ heaven! It's a part of Arda. It'll be destroyed when the world ends. Heaven would be wherever Men go when they die, which IIRC isn't just outside of Arda, but outside of Ea itself.
To build a fictional world that is so intricate and complex that there are experts and professors on your material... Tolkien really was a genius and a one of a kind.
You can say that again...
Sanderson’s Cosmere is pretty close !
Dude made an entire history text book for his universe
@@user-cn4md3qk9m I’d say the stories are very in depth but the lore of the worlds is not that deep compared to Tolkien
And there’s nothing worse than when someone tries to do it wrong. Tolkien did it probably better than anyone else I’ve seen, but it can be awful to see someone try and miss ala the “Riddick” stories.
“Of course, the Akallabeth is the story of the downfall of Numenor.”
Yes, of course
This dude's knowledge runs so deep. I read the books and Numenor is well explained in there, but dear lord the Silmarillion is basically the Bible. That's where I'm at my limit and he just knows it like the back of his hand.
@@TheSpecialJ11 First part of the Silmarillion is like this, then it progressively becomes more like your usual stories. I mean, if you didn't get to that part maybe try to skip some.
@@yan-amar Bingo. The Ainulindalë, which is the beginning portion of the book called "The Silmarillion," is a lot like reading scripture. It is very poetic and primordial and it took me several cracks at to absorb much of anything.
Maybe just start at the portion of the book called the Silmarillion. It is more like a medieval epic rather than the Bible. It has more of a plot and an easier voice, though it is still a bit dense. Lots of names.
@@TheSpecialJ11 True. The Bible begins with a creation story, followed by a very long chronicle of the reigns of many highly charismatic and egotistical kings, warlords and clan leaders, some with more admirable motivations than others.
@@aliebrubaker7473 "lots of names" - understatement of the year :) Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the book, and it would lose so much if it was somehow made more "casual". But... So many names.
He might be a LOTR expert, but does he know that Vigo Mortensen broke his toe in that one scene?
I remember that lol
😆
every single reaction video lol
What?? When did this happen?
@@user_name_redacted The scene in the Two Towers where Aragorn kick the helmet of an Uruk and scream. That scream was real, Viggo just broke his toe with this kick and they kept it ^^
So basically the Valar sacked an underperforming employee but instead of replacing him with someone new, they merged two jobs into one. Typical upper management
And do you think Gandalf got a raise?
I'm afraid that just isn't in the budget right now.
I'm sure they told him it was just temporary until they reassess in the Fifth Fiscal Age.
More like a fraud than underperformance. So they just push him out of the job by putting Gandalf in charge so they have two people in the same position but let one of them get the upper hand to put pressure on the other. Classic upper management move
@@brainkrieg1423 a raise? You think he sewed those flowing white garbs himself? Where did he get that shiny new staff? That stuff is not cheap. He will be working that debt off for the next four and a half thousand years.
The Valar are middle management. There is one higher than all in the Tolkien mythos
Imagine writing a book thinking “heck yea I did it. I hope people will like it” and 80 years later EVERYONE reveres it and it is the basis of an entire genre throughout generations?
I was hiking a random path in the blackforest in Germany and found a random tree with "Frodo and Sam" carved into it. Imagine your book being THAT popular
I mean in a way Tolkien realy preserved the epic prose literature with the fantasy genre. When you look at Beowulf which Tolkien being one of the first to translate it into modern english and analyzing, you see realy many similarities.
Tolkein certainly didnt think "heck yeah" about anything, he was a professor when he wrote lotr
@@thomasel9171 It's called paraphrasing, party pooper.
@@thomasel9171 its just fun to imagine it like that
Can we get a 90-minute version of this?
Check out his "Exploring the Lord of the Rings" series on RUclips, Twitch, or as podcast! Exploring the books weekly, paragraph by paragraph. It's wonderful! If we're lucky, we will finish by 2050 methinks! Lmao.
Also search Signum university on youtube
Tempted to down vote as 90 minutes would still be too short.
You can also join his weekly stream on twitch.tv/lotrostream wherein he is taking a Hobbit Burglar through LOTRO and expounding on Lore in the process.
You can get the 10 year version of this by going trough his thousands of podcast episodes.
There's nothing better than a dude whos truly passionate about a subject.
@Kyle Lost, Nah but even then it’s definitely respectable
@@abyssshriek7631 even when it's eugenics or something like that?
Especially when they can do so without being gnarly about it (the number of folks who take the fact they are very knowledgeable about something is carte-blanche to be an absolutely miserable reprobate to people about it is staggering).
That's a teacher you love in high school, is a teacher that helps you love what they teach, like this guy here.
Until it devolves into hatred, then it just becomes annoying.
Fun fact: after announcing his treason in the books, Saruman denounced his role as the white wizard and began calling himself “Saruman of Many Colors.” I think this represented how Saruman no longer wanted to be restricted by his assigned role, and desired the power to do whatever he pleased.
And as much as I liked that bit in the books, I'm sort of glad it wasn't in the movies. I don't think Saruman and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat would've translated well. XD
All colors together produce black. I’m more with that one,
"I am now Saruman of Many Colours!"
And thus began the march of the LGBT army across Mordor
@@KoriEmerson No, all colors of light produce white. All colors of pigment produce brown. Black is the absence of light.
@@vidboy7 Hopefully to pull down the dull, confining, terrible conformity that was the Dark Lord.
Tolkien was like "I helped write the dictionary, don't tell me Dwarves is wrong."
"I was there when it was written"
Tolkien
@@tylersaurusakro
"I wrote"
Tolkien
A small family memory : Tolkien was my grandfather’s tutor at Oxford. My mother’s name was Mariel Elizabeth and my grandfather called her Malbeth. Tolkien collected names he liked and my mother became “ Malbeth the Seer”.
That is so cool
WOAH!!
Which book? :D I wanna find this!
Yea I totally believe you.
@@ominouslybakedart1974 He is referred to in the appendices to the Return of the King. He predicts that one of Aragorn’s ancestors would either unite Gondor and Arnor as one kingdom again or die as the last king of Arnor, with many generations needing to pass before reunification. Obviously the second one happened and we saw Aragorn restore the unified kingdom.
If only all Tolkien fans were like him, Tolkien books are heavy complicated and hard to understand everything; he explains everything without insulting anybody’s intelligence and that’s cool
That’s how you know someone fully understands what they’re talking about.
r/tolkienfans is also mostly nice, at least in my personal experience.
Yeah, you're right, all Tolkien fans should cater specifically to your fragile ego and be nice to you
@@JoshuaCurey you mean what they're tolkien about
@@post-leftluddite Yup, you’re one of the ones he was talking about. lmao
Can we take a second to appreciate that these are real questions and not just “what about the eagles?” questions.
And that all the people who asked these questions actually took the time to type them all out properly.
@@rich925cal1 exactly, i might even start calling him Gonzalez
*Spoiler alert*
Part 2 of this this q&a will disappoint then.
Those are in part 2 actually
But what about the eagles?
14:55 "You cannot mess up my plan for the world and you will find that everything you do will ultimately contribute to the beauty of my creation."
That is incredibly beautiful.
Basically also the story of any Faust book (or at least the Goethe one)
It's a Christian perspective on Satan vs gods plan.
If you find this beautiful, look into Catholic Christianity. It's true
This is literally Catholic cosmology. And has been since the fourth century (Augustin of Hippo)
It's Roman's 8:28 and Genesis 50:20 all over! Beautiful theology.
New Grey Wizard: So what is my role exactly?
White Wizard: Just...be positive.
You pass butter
The blues: to get lost helping the Rhûn or whoever they were helping.
(Its been a fat minute since I've updated my LOTR lore)
*Proceeds to smoke bong with the Hobbits and talk to the trees*
You are supposed to contribute to memes
@@ottovonbismarck7646 far east, yeah
Props to the guy who actually has figured out the Silmarillion. That stuff is *dense.*
Give it a second read. It gets easier to understand.
Yes! I'm on my second attempt at reading it. It's taking a lot of brain power. 😅
@@angelwings06 Kudos to you for giving it another shot! I finished it, put the book down, and proceeded to question what I had just read.
@@szabok1999 1 reread is not enough...
It made more sense to me after listening to an audiobook of it with my wife on a road trip. I found that listening to it read to me help seat the story in my understanding.
I love so much that Tolkien, the great linguist, who created tons of written and oral languages, even got fired up over a linguistic rule like 'dwarfs' that he considered stupid and just decided to do whatever tf he wanted 😂 Our professors' motto in film school was always "know the rules well so that you know how, why, and when to break them." That's just like what Tolkien did!
I'm doing the same thing in a story by adding incorrect colloquialisms in the dialogue, like 'comfterble'.
"Catch these hands" - Sauron
"Tickle tickle"
A few fun facts for those who are curious: Merry and Pippin were buried at Gondor, and Aragorn was buried alongside them when he died at the age of 210 (after being king for over a century). Following his death, Legolas and Gimli built a ship and sailed off to Valinor together.
Maybe we don’t know about gimli
Wait how do you know that
@@sianavassileva403 appendix D in Return of the King:
“In this year on March 1st came at last the Passing of King Elessar. It is said
that the beds of Meriadoc and Peregrin were set beside the bed of the great
king. Then Legolas built a grey ship in Ithilien, and sailed down Anduin and so
over Sea; and with him, it is said, went Gimli the Dwarf. And when that ship
passed an end was come in the Middle-earth of the Fellowship of the Ring.”
@@sammulhall i love that, thank you!
U a mega nerd
Tolkien seemed like he took great pleasure in acting like he was a professor in Middleearthology, not the creator of it.
Ardology*
Almost as though he were a student of his own imagination. You've got a point.
But it makes sense. Any fantasy/scifi author or otherwise worldbuilder can tell you, the more coherent you try to make your lore, the more questions appear where you can approximate an answer, but not certainly know it.
Great observation
He wasn't putting on airs. Not all storytellers see themselves as the source of their tales. He believed he wasn't inventing his stories, but that they were _given_ to him. That's why he always said he would "have to find out" whenever someone asked him something he hadn't thought about.
I love how Tolkien responds to questions like he is discovering the answers through study and not that he’s making it up lol
As far as he was concerned he was. He felt that the story he was writing already existed and that he was finding it - telling this sort of hidden history if you will
@@marcusrelicus728 Reminds me of a quote by a stone mason:
"I don't carve a statue, I reveal it."
Even Gandalf doesn’t remember his former role. He died. His gray self was killed. His gray role. I like that description of the different colors. He basically became a whole new wizard with vague backups of his previous life. He knows his goal and the people
Important in that goal.
I'm watching the movie when I saw this and yes he admits he died. This is like the 6th time he died.
No, he remembers his past life just fine. He remembers his friendships with the fellowship, with Bilbo, he remembers middle earth, all that jazz
Edit: me idiot
To Gandalf the White his former life is a distant memory, like remembering something which happened to you many years ago.
It's like upgrading the software for new, more hard jobs.
@@fezii9043 in the books while he speaking to Aragorn Legolas and Gimli and fangorn Forest they call him Gandalf and he sits there for a second recollecting that name and then says "yes, that was my name." As if he did not immedietley know it.
Can we get maybe two more parts of this? And then maybe idk make like “extended” versions of each part???
I would watch that, then watch them again with the professor explaining how he came to his answers as an additional voiceover 😂
😄😄😄😄😄 I'd watch!
Director's cut and the blue ray and finally in 4K. we want all ...
Patience
Look up Signum University. Dr. Corey Olsen teaches multiple courses, some you can find for free on YT.
I love how this guy makes Tolkien’s world so comprehensible and easy to understand
It sounds so real, like it materialistically exists, right? 🙂
Bea Smith yes
I think it's a bit of an issue of whether you are a book person. I haven't done more than reading & listening to LotR multiple times and (only) listening to both the Silmarillion and the elongated "The Children of Húrin" multiple times, and I could have answered most of these questions without checking, too. Tolkien's language isn't as easy as modern fantasy novels written for us young folks, sure, but it's absolutely worth it! I wouldn't necessarily call it complicated, it's just awfully *much.* :D Still, I loved to see this man elaborate on it!
Tolkien's mythos isn't especially that hard to understand, it's just sooooo dense. It can really put you off if you're not ready for it! I personally love it
Great name/ avatar btw 👍🏻✌🏼🤙🏼
The response to the Denethor/Theoden questions warmed my heart
The Rohirrim be like: this is our king; King, son of King
Way too many children in this comment section. "Be like"? Learn to speak the language if you want to be understood.
@@waynemarvin5661 no. I can speak english "properly" but why do that here? If people understand what I mean and it's not a formal setting I dont see why I should write like it's an essay.
@@j3011 I understood what you ment!
@@TherealDanielleNelson nice
@@waynemarvin5661 we all understood what was said. Screw off.
I'm surprised no one asked about the biggest enigma and mystery in Tolkien's Legendarium: Tom Bombadil.
He will be the last, as he was the first
He may perhaps be the anthropomorphic manifestation of Arda itself. There are many theories, nothing is made quite clear.
@@JesusFriedChrist My theory is that he is a part of Eru, that would explain why the Ring has no effect on him and why he is referred to as the Master and the Eldest by himself and Goldberry.
Yeeeessssss
Oh come on, we all know that he doesn't have an answer for that. Nobody does, except Tolkien himself
Is it just me, or should they devote an entire big series to this guy talking Tolkien stuff?
Check out his "exploring the lord of the rings" podcast! It's been a joy.
We spend a couple hours talking about Tolkien stuff on discord every tuesday!!! Google Exploring the Lord of The Rings!
You can get the 10 year version of this by going trough his thousands of podcast episodes.
Is it on spotify?
@@NostalgiNorden you guys just made my day :D
"I am Saruman, or Saruman as he should have been." One of my favorite quotes
In the chapter "Of the Maiar" it says that Olorin (Gandalf) walked unseen for many years with the Elves and even took up Elven form among them. There are then many "mysterious Elf Lords" taking part in very important missions without any title given to them. For example when the Silmaril set in the Nauglamir returns to the Elves after the death of Beren and Luthien, it was taken to them by a single Elf lord, which seems an extremely risky mission to take alone unless you are actually Olorin? What do you think?
yes
I've thought about this for six more months and about eight more audiobook completions (lol) and the more I think about it the more I think it's just coincidence. But it is amazing how Tolkiens works seem to have their own built in mysteries like this! Reading more of his own letters it seems he himself saw these mysteries as very fascinating. It's the only Mythos I've found that is capable of doing this and retaining consistency.
That's the most Gandalf thing ever ^^
"Oh wow thanks for doing this basically impossible task for us!"
"Oh don't mention it. EVER!"
@@Nerobyrneand then he just dipped out and didn't come back for a few hundred years
This guy needs a YT channel. He actually knows and he’s not a Wikipedia YT like most of Tolkien YT creators.
He has one! ruclips.net/user/SignumUniversity
Yeah he sounds like the guy who writes the Wiki, not reads it.
Yep. Most youtube creators are fundamentally entertainers, not scholars. Whether that is a bad thing or not is up for interpretation
hxh fan?
I wish Tom Shippey would do a YT series on Tolkien. His books on the subject are masterful.
I adore hearing about Tolkien's mythologies in a casual or straightforward way like this.
Sam. This real world in 2020 and 2021 is depressing.
same! never find answers as straightforward as these on reddit and quora forums.
It did- that’s the whole point with Tolkien; he hid it in his stories and wanted to guide us...
5:23 If Torin & Co had compases, it would definetely help them to find a right direction in the Mirkwood. The fact that Bilbo needed to climb the tree to determine where is East says that they navigated mostly by sun and some mountain peaks.
I want this dude to sit down, watch the extended version of the trilogy, and give his commentary. And not just comment on stuff. But pause and give an entire explanation. Thank you very much.
annotated audiobook
He's so nice and welcoming to people who aren't as knowledgable about Tolkien and his works!
Yeah, he's not a gatekeeper. He's a good tour guide.
He’s amazing! I messaged him on FB maybe 8 years ago with a Silmarillion themed question and a few weeks later he got back to me and we had a great back and forth!
@@awesomeferret How? Most people including me can't see that at all
man, gandalf's main job was to go around & support folks. what a guy :')
And smoke pipeweed. Chillest job on Middle-Earth
His entire job was to ride around everywhere in order to poke and prod people intellectually.
he’s looking for that WeeD which could easily currupt anyone
Gandalf is basically the equivalent of a tired, underpaid social worker.
And by that, part of his job was to let the other guys in the party take full exp
"A suburb of Mordor" That's a rough neighborhood.
I like this guy. He actually explains things and doesn't just expect that you've read all the material. He makes things make sense.
Amazon should hire this guy as a consultant for their LOTR project instead of making it GoT with elves.
Good taste in books AND artists.
The video any Tolkien fan has been waiting for 🤩
Hey there old friend, we meet again
To be fair most of us (who have read the books a few times) already knew this anyway.
@@probablynotmyname8521 to be fair just as many people haven't read the books.... I just started reading hobbit last week
*Hobbit-heads
Fancy seeing you here
People with this much energy and passion are such a treat to listen to
This guy seems to have so much fun while talking about Tolkien. I'm having a lot of fun listening. I'm super glad he's doing this!
This is such pure non toxic top level geekness it makes me feel warm and safe inside and I didn't know I missed that.
Yeah it's way better when people can be excited about something without gatekeeping
@@patrickripleyiii134 Gatekeeping good
Starting an answer with "thats a great question" does such a lot and rekindles my love for learning.
Honestly the Tolkien fandom are some of the most welcoming and kind people I have ever met.
best comment ever!
I like this theatrical release but I need the extended edition.
I have limited Tolkien knowledge, but Cory did such a great job articulating Tolkien I was able to understand him.
Just watched the first movie again after a few years, and I still don’t think anybody could have done it better. Not only did they translate the story well for the screen, but they also managed to replicate the FEELING of the book.
That’s what I ask of movies based on books. Give me the sane feeling I get when I read it, even if some events are changed to better fit a 2-3 hour experience.
to bad the other two movies don't acchieve that...
Except they didn't add Tom Bombadil in the movies. I was really, really looking forward to seeing Tom Bombadil, and they didn't have him. Which was disappointing.
Looking at Disney's Black Cauldron movie. It's my favorite book, and they trashed it.
Very cool to see Corey Olsen getting more recognition. The dude is a hero for making deep Tolkien scholarship accessible to everyone.
10000x this.
It isn't really hard. Just read and study the material. It's not hard to be like him.
"Why did you kill 20 people?"
"Ah, ya know...Melkor..."
That’s right Your Honor
In Arda that would technically be true, at least indirectly
I was honestly thinking he was gonna say "come guys... read the books! / whaaat?! How do you not know this??!" But no. He explains and goes "good question!". I could honestly watch his yt channel if he has one.
Check out Signum University
Well yeah, read the books. No one needs a Tolkien professors experience to help someone along the way.
I haven't listened to it yet but his podcast is supposed to be really good. Or the Prancing Pony Podcast which also works through all of Tolkiens texts. I have been listening to them over the past year and they are amazing! They also have an interview with Corey and other experts on Tolkien.
I distinctly remember in part of the wrap up, Tolkien said that after Aragorn died Arwen kissed her children, went to Lothlorien and laid down in the leaves. Not that she died, but that she laid down and went to sleep. That doesn't say she gave up her immortality, just that she gave up on life and slept for the rest of the world because she was sad. Which is a serious bummer, if you ask me
Yeah, too bad she couldn’t go to the undying land or something other
@@derpyvillager2606 I refuse to believe she didn't. I firmly believe that her dad waited and then sent a ship to go get her. I refuse to believe that her family just abandoned her forever
Sad thought, but no. Tolkien may not have made it clear regarding Arwen herself, but it's made perfectly clear elsewhere what happens to half-elves who choose to be counted among mortals (which Arwen does in marrying Aragorn): they die. They do apparently have some power to choose *when* they die. Elrond's twin brother Elros chose mortality, but also chose to live to like 500. But eventually die they must. Taken in that context, it's pretty clear what Arwen does in Lothlorien is choose her time to die, and lays down to do so. For what it's worth, her spirit may then have been immediately reunited with Aragorn's, wherever it is that mortal spirits go, beyond the circles of the world.
@@tiger_3723 Her family was Aragorn and her children.
One of my favorite things to explain to people who hasn’t read the Silm is “The world is flat but only if you’re an elf”
Explain for us casuals please
@@Nicolas-lg6ys it’s the thing about the “straight road” that he goes over in the video, but phrased funnier
@@Nicolas-lg6ys mortals cannot pass to the west to the holy land of the elves and the guardians of the world the valar and their servants maiar who dwell in there. But to elves there excists a path through the sea. But only Cirdan the shipwright knows how to make a ship that can make the extremely long journey that one must make to reach it.
"Legolas! What do your elf-eyes see?"
Legolas can see further because he's an elf and ignores the fact that the world is round
@@francesatty7022 "someone has keener eyesight that means the world isn't round"
yeah solid argument there buddy. Now go lie down so those two peas in your head don't accidentally fall off.
Sauron to his enemies: "You're about to catch these hands!"
Talk to the hand 🤚
🎵 Do you want to fight me
Do you want to catch these hands 🎵
Sauron should have gone full Bud Spencer
“They look like big, strong hands, don’t they?”
Love how much fun he's having answering those questions. A true nerd in his element.
Found this by way of part 2. As a Tolkien nerd, I love this!
Also, my allergies started acting up when he was talking about Arwen's choice. Gets me every time.
I like how writers like JK Rowling just comes up with additions to the story and pretends like it was always there. She always acts like there are no mysteries to her or things she didn't think about. And then there's Tolkien, who's like "yea I don't know what happened to the Entwives. I think they might be dead. Not sure." 😂
Facts. I mean at least he admits he didn’t think about that and leaves it for his readers’ interpretation. Wholesome enough.
That’s because Middle Earth is a world. The world of Harry Potter is a franchise, no comparison to Tolkien’s invention, creation, whatever you want to call it
@@Flash4ML I call it his MASTERPIECE
I THOUGHT ABOUT THAT and yeah that just shows how tolkien RESPECTS the world he created, he doesn’t know it all and he’s not just gonna come up with random stuff
@@raineeace oh, he thought about it. He just couldn’t find an answer that would fit his standards.
Sauron using his hands to fight makes it make way more sense how he lost his finger
I can imagine him rushing into the Alliance's army lines, literally ripping through them, rending armor and shattering them with slaps and punches.
Well, except that Isildur cut his ring finger off after he was "killed," or whatever word you want to use for his permanent disembodiment at the hands of Elendil and Gil-galad. His body was already lying there inert when Isildur did that.
He used a golden gun and a red fencing lightsaber
@@corruptangel6793 Madara during the war style?
@@aaronruf8421 more or less
i like the role idea. it makes sense of the "sarumon as he should have been" line, and it's makes sense why Gandalf was given the Ring of Power he has.
The question and answer at 840 are just amazing. Describing Sauron as being unable to create beauty... that's exactly the kind of thing that C.S Lewis would write.
Could this be the influence of his friend on Tolkein's theology.
I agree with Tolkien. The pluralization of dwarf is stupid. And at this point I feel like Tolkien kinda deserves to be the authority on this matter
I am a long time role player (D&D and the like) and I agree with you. Dwarfs just seems like something a child might say.
I literally thought it was dwarves until I saw this video.
I play Warhammer and I always refer to my Dwarves as DwarVES - for me it sounds less child fairy-tale (snow white and the seven dwarfs)
One half, many halves.
One calf, many calves.
One wharf, many wharves.
One dwarf, many dwarves.
Seems obvious to me. Tolkien was, lets face it, kinda kooky.
@@SugarfreeYT you're calling Tolkien kooky despite agreeing with him?
Biggest lord of the ring question of all time. Do the Orcs have restaurants. Is that why they knew “meat was back on the menu?”
Right, they should be careful with modern expressions which are out of place. I watched the trilogy recently and I caught some but I don't remember them now.
Orc is what a normal person turns into when a vegetarian gets to dictate his cuisine. The animal brain needs them proteins and if I don't get my stake, I'm going berserk too.
Surely the orcs trade goods with one another some level, meat is on a menu somewhere
Orcs are French-Canadians
There are a lot of inns in Middle-earth. They must have encountered them during raids and made fun (and food) of the innkeepers and guests, as well as human customs, hence the menus. lol
2:22 - Elves are NOT mortal creatures. That is made very clear in The Silmarillion. To quote: "For Elves die not till the world dies...Neither does age subdue their strength."
Great video!
Mortal in the sense that they were not divine beings like the Valar.
@@adamplentl5588 Ok, that makes more sense. He probably should have made it a little clear though.
And to add to Adam's answer, "mortal" as in "killable".
What an awesome and well done video. Super entertaining and lively Q & A. Tolkien was one of a kind, but sometimes can be a bit long in the tooth when it comes to the letters and appendices. This guy is able to make even these more grindy aspects palatable and fun.
Saruman promoted himself to “Saruman of Many Colors”.
Which makes way more sense now thank you
😂😂😂
And it was at that point when gandalf realized that saruman had completely lost it
Saruman the Rainbow haha
Saruman the LGBT:
S: "Gandalf! I will have all the genders!!"
G: "When did saruman the wise, abandon reason for madness?!"
S: *rainbow attacks!*
Melkor: I have corrupted and killed all across creation. How hurt you must be
Iluvatar: literally nothing you do has any consequence
Melkor:😐
"And deep in their dark hearts the Orcs loathed the Master whom they served in fear, the maker only of their misery. This it may be was the vilest deed of Melkor, and the most hateful to Illuvatar"
Illuvatar must have been a little hurt about this.
I mean... I don't think the Elves and Men of Beleriand would agree with the big boss on this point. Ask Hurin and his kids about it...
@@feanor1488 i don't think so, because on a long enough timeline Iluvatar knew it would sort itself out.
@@aliebrubaker7473 I'm pretty sure the Elves know it just as well as Eru does. The men might disagree, but that's not really the point or... relevant as cold as it might sound. What happens to them may be horrible, but it also won't change anything in the grand scheme of things. It happened, but the ripples of it's happening only echo so far.
god : THIS IS ALL MY PLAN ALL ALONG!
i like to think this guy doesn't stop and check any notes and just has stuff like "appendix a in return of the king" off the top of his head
I was today years old when I realized that there is such thing as a Tolkien scholar.
The Tolkien universe is endless. Hopefully they can do another episode!
It's a paracosm!
Silmarillion
scarf-scarves : dwarf-dwarves
Tolkien must have been some sort of savant. The way he can remember the details of each character, species, class, politics, geography, etc is astounding to me. I'm great at coming up with plot and twists, but I'm horrible at remembering it. He was quite a genius.
next episode: former orc solder finds his true self as a trans-dwarf and join the free people of the middle earth.
Saruman: originally intended to help lead the strong.
Gandalf: originally intended to help encourage those who wrongly think they are weak.
Blue Wizards: intended to help the “already fallen” see the light, which is why they sent two.😊
Radagast: intended to help encourage animals and nature.
They represented the interests of the particular Valar to whose peoples they belonged. Eg. Radagast represents in interests of Yavanna. Saurman and Sauron were both of the peoples of Aule and both fell to corruption. Gandalf/Olorin was sent by Manwe and Varda and remained faithful. Tolkien describes Aule and Melkor as being the most similar in terms of skills. Although I believe Gandalf was of the people of of Irmo.
I need Gandalf and the blue wizards right now :")
so now that Gandalf took over as white, did the job become a mix? like- 'Intended lead and guide those in time of need'??
@@theblackbabygoat6876 If possible talk to your friends about it. If it would be too difficult, reach out for some professional help, e.g. coach or therapist via video call. I hope you will be OK. May the light of Valinor shines on your path.
Whey I need to cheer up, I remember alarm clock that indicates upon ringing: If Frodo could get to Mordor, you can get up. :-)
@@martinxvidxb Thank you, kind ser :))
Your words send encouragements I didn't know I needed.
I think the most interesting entwives theory ive seen is that theyre giant bees, playing into the concept of pollination of trees and the line treebeard had about not remembering much, if anything about them. I dont know how much its texually supported, but i enjoy it, i like the idea of big bees in the world (and yes, there are already bees in middle earth, they have mead!)
Hey I know this is late, but in The Hobbit, Beorn is said to have giant bees on his property. I don't know if there are any other explanations for them, or exactly how big they were, but it is food for thought.
@@ct4888 ooh interesting!! I dont think this is what you were suggesting, but the idea that the entwives all went to beorn's house and just chilled there for ages is kinda funny im not gonna lie
The way you described the theology of Eru vs. Melkor is actually EXACTLY like God vs. Satan of Christianity. Pretty cool really ^_^
Tolkien was Catholic. So He based his mithology on the Bible and christian beliefs...
For anyone interested in reading The Silmarillion, the Tolkien Professor's "Silmarillion Seminar" podcast adds incredible context, insight, and enjoyment to the experience! I couldn't recommend it more highly.
Should I listen to the podcast before or after reading the book?
@@MadKatBoss There's one episode per chapter, so I'd suggest reading a chapter and then listening to the corresponding episode afterward. Keep your book handy while you listen, just in case you want to revisit something they're discussing.
Holy crap that guy has so many hours of talk on it
@@smeagolmazurenko5238 iirc, the entire War of the Ring takes up about a page and a half of the Silmarillion.
There's a lot to go through.
I keep trying to read the silmarillion. It’s way to heavy
"Are there any other towns in the Shire except Hobbiton?"
Me, as a LotRO player: My time is now
TLDR;
Tolkien is a historian, with artistic alterations.
Say, I have this funny tasting pie...
@@Diomedene Nopenopenopenope
PTSD activated
Learned those places while delivering so much post
Was thinking this as well! Haha
Never seen anything remotely related to lord of rings, you have no idea how confused i am
It's like Fast and the Furious except with wizards, dwarfs, elves, hobbits, rings, dragons, magic, swords, horses, made up languages, and mushrooms...instead of cars.
@@BlueMit11 😂😂🤣🤣🤣
@@BlueMit11 Mushrooms?
@@kirstymca See Chapter 4 of the first book: J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "A Short Cut to Mushrooms"
@@zubakx4961 Of course, yes! :-D
Ahh, the “what is sauron?” Question. This is what sparked my deep dive into Tolkien’s other works on the late 90’s because it drove me crazy that it wasn’t explained in LotR
Kinda same. After hearing the name Melkor and that he is more powerful than sauron i began my deep dive into the lore :D I watched hundreds of videos but i´m just understanding the basics of every age and what happened. It´s crazy how much lore there is to learn and how little the movies actually explain.
If it's not explained in LOTR. how does the professor know it?
@@Amp661 i think he was referring to the movies
The orcs are a mockery of elves just as the Black Speech is a mockery of Elven.
So does the Trolls which is kind of a mockery of the Ents.
@Darren Fred wtf, what on earth are you on about?
@@AbrahamArthemius well, every one of Morgoth’s forces was, like the dragons: eagles, goblins: dwarves, the trolls and orcs like previously stated, and even the balrogs are to Maiar, though they weren’t really of Morgoth’s making, they chose to join him themselves, though he got them to through deception.
@Darren Fred no, they are not.
Evil as the corruption of the good
I could listen this guy talk about Tolkien for ten hours straight. He knows the stuff. * respectful bow *
You bow to no one.
You can!! We have about 400+ our of exactly this on his RUclips channel. Look up Exploring Lord of the Rings Signum University
Really enjoying this. I know most of these answers but you go in depth a bit more than my understanding does. It's neat that there's still more to learn about Tolkien's legendarium.
Man this really needs to be a series. Awesome!
So the Entwives lived in the suburbs of Mordor. I smell a reality TV show:
Suburban Entwives of Mordor
Shush, you'll wake up the Entkaren!
O M G! Did you see the color of her leaves? What was she thinking?
Desperate Entwives.
The Real Entwives Of The Morgul Vale
hahahaha
I've studied Tolkien lore for over a full year and I'm just now finding out about this guy
Welcome to the black hole that is the Tokienprofessor :D
Yea a year not going get you anywhere
This guy not very impressive
@Morgan Freeman you're the one who seems salty, you either know him well or you're just making assumptions 🤷🏽♂️
He makes mistakes in this video. Best to ignore him and just read for yourself.
The reason we all love and respect Tolkien’s works for seemingly all time is simply because he created a throughly thought out, beautiful fantasy world that parallels our own in the constant struggle of evil trying to overtake the good, and even at moments of pure despair and suffering, everyone pulls together and puts aside their differences to overcome the evil and they’re successful at it!
Who wouldn’t love that?
It’s just beautiful.
Please do thousands more of these videos, they're awesome and informative
Why not just read the books?
As great as the movies are, it doesn't even scratch the surface of how deep Tolkiens world was
There were dozens of movies made based on Tolkien’s works. Which ones are you talking about?
@@incanusolorin2607 the title of this clip should help add context.
@@incanusolorin2607 regardless, I could be referring to all of them. Doesn't matter my point is still relevant.
I don't agree at all. I find these hot-take postulates absolutely resentful.
@@BLINDCABBY amen. The superiority within fan bases can be infuriating
"Where are the entwives?"
Tolkien: "I don't know? Dead maybe?"
: o
Lol yes Tolkien himself doesn’t know
Well, there was that tree seen walking through the Shire. I like to think there's one Entwife left.
Wow, this answered so many questions I wondered about over the years, thank you!
3:44 That's what I thought! I admittedly made the mistake of assuming the wizards had "ranks" earlier. I remember Tolkien said that Gandalf was wiser and more powerful than Saruman and the latter was jealous because of it.
-"this video i like it"
*smashes video on the floor*
-"ANOTHER!!"
Sauron said “catch these hands” and I like that
Thanks! The best Tolkien content for my degree of understanding since forever.
That was me gratuitously praising myself.
Do another one, do another one! This was fascinating.
There’s a part in lotr where Tolkien describes the entwives as becoming more organized and precise, I always read that as they left their wild nature behind to become farmland and orchards
That's why Treebeard asks Merry and Pippin to look for the Entwives when they return to the Shire because that would be a region the Entwives would like
theres also a theory that the became enslaved by Sauron and thats how he feeds his massive orc armies, i forget the name of the region, but in Mordor theres an area of land which surrounds a lake and its very fertile, so its possible the entwives were captured and forced to tend to the land for the armies of Mordor
@@krangitebacon5039 I believe you’re thinking of Nurn, which surrounds the sea of Nurnen
I believe if am not mistaken we meet a entwive in shadow of war
I really like this take!
people who keep saying that Stephen Colbert should "battle" him or should replace this guy: Colbert has been a fan of Cory Olsen for many years and has openly talked about listening to The Tolkien Professor podcast before.
EDIT: Also what I mean is that they shouldn't "challenge" each other to see who knows more, to see who can stump who... but rather Stephen should DEFINITELY have Cory on to chat Tolkien stuff and I think that's REALLY what the people want!
The Lord of the Rings Cast Now (2020)
ruclips.net/video/NoUPI3qPUzU/видео.html
Colbert is a hack... this guy is way better
HE'S GOT A PODCAST???
@@nicholasmapes Right? Colbert keeps mispronouncing names and it genuinely feels like the show is playing up his knowledge of the stuff. He always sounds like he's just reading lines in recent years when it's Tolkien-related.
@@rahilario You are attacking Colbert for mispronouncing names while this guy does that too? I don't care about their mispronunciations unless they act as if they are correct, but at least try to make sound arguments please. Dunno about that last part because I don't watch him that often, but to me he seemed like the guy that's a little obsessed with Tolkien and has fun talking about LotR. Of course, prone to make mistakes, and less obsessed compared to many of us.
These videos are terrific, kudos to Mr. Olsen for his enthusiasm and comprehensive deep-dives.
05:33 I'm no expert (at all) I had my memory jogged of a reference to awareness of the roundness of the planet of the characters when Frodo was explaining to Samwise that if you go far enough south it starts getting cold again. I always loved little tidbits like that in the stories. Not saying that they used compasses, just enthusing about the fullness of a realm created by an amazing Author.
Regarding Arwen and the boat, in the words of Indiana Jones: No ticket.
during that section of the video I was uh there were more boats, Sam took one lol
you just broke my laughing pipe
It is so big for Arwen to choose Aragorn over her family, she will never see her father, Elrond, or her kin again. Humans and Elves live in different Halls in Valinor.
@@matheus.bueno47 what do you mean? I thought that humans just died, they don't go to valinor when they've died. Elronds brother and his kin don't love in valinor after their death.
XDXD haha nice
5:11 true, colours of the wizards actually mean job description. This is not portrayed in the movies, but in the books when Gandalf takes over the white wizard's job (i. e. to be the arch enemy of Sauron), Saruman LOSES his white wizard status, and actually becomes RAINBOW coloured, i.e. his robes start shifting colours constantly, which seems to mean he's totally lost his purpose. Funny that Saruman considers his new rainbow colour to mean he is universal and above all wizards, but in reality had become unlike any of them, simply purposeless, nothing at all.
But while there's no automatic rank-up hierarchy, someone else COULD still become the grey wizard now that the position's open, right? It sounds like a pretty fun job to me, you are essentially a life coach.
@@KairuHakubi it’s also possible that the wizards’ cloak colors indicate the Vala they served.
Saruman originally served Aule, the smith, and his cloak might symbolize the white heat of metal in a crucible.
Gandalf served several Valar, including Nienna, whose province is grief and mercy. His grey cloak is like the ashes worn as a symbol of mourning in some cultures- and could also be camouflage for the fact that he is also a “Servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor”.
Radagast served Yavanna, whose province is the “lesser” life, including trees. This would be symbolized by the earth tone of his cloak.
The Blue Wizards served Orome the Hunter, who protected the world during the darkness between the destruction of the pillars of light and the blossoming of the Two Trees. The blue of their cloaks, if artists’ depictions are what Tolkien had in mind, could symbolize the night sky before Varda hung the stars as a challenge to Morgoth.
@@tomlienert882 ahh I love that stuff, that is totally plausible.
@@tomlienert882 I remember reading that gandalf was a a Maia for lots of valar but in particular he was favored by manwe
Okay.. now is a good time to call this guy and ask about black elf, And black dwarf and the amazon lotr trailer
ruclips.net/video/O5etaXw2MgQ/видео.html&ab_channel=IGN