Fifth Age Podcast: Tolkien Stories: Recent Episodes
Dan Martz, Erica Grunseth
In this minisode, cut from our Feanor episode, we discuss light and how it relates to the Silmarils. We talk about the history of Earendil. He ended up with a Silmaril which was placed in the sky and became the... Read moreThe Silmarils
In this minsode cut from our discussion of Feanor, we talk about the differences in writing between the Books of Lost Tales and the Silmarillion. We discuss how mythology is filled with the passion that a culture with language instills,... Read moreHistory vs Mythology
In this minisode, cut from our Feanor episode, we discuss Melkor and the Vala. We talk about the creation story of Eä (the world is not called Middle Earth, that’s the continent). We have a brief interruption in the middle... Read moreMelkor and the Vala
In this episode, we discuss Feanor and how he messed things up a lot for everyone. Also, we decide that the Lord of the Balrogs is Krampus. 0:53 Oath 1:27 The Darkening of Valinor 2:16 Morgoth is rescued from... Read moreThe Life of Fëanor
This is the first part of a long conversation about the First Age elvish craftsman Fëanor. We discuss background information about who he is and why he is important to talk about. It will give a lot of context to... Read moreIntro to Fëanor
In this minisode cut from the end of our upcoming Fëanor episodes, we cover a lot of ground pretty quickly. We discuss whether or not Sauron’s love of crafts and his creative vs. dominant nature, Galadriel’s hair, the work of... Read moreFëanor minisode
Welcome to our first ever listener question episode! Thanks to Deb for this intriguing idea. 1:00 Tom Shippey, sources 1:20 Hi Deb! 1:37 Orc clans – warlike 1:50 Sauron and Morgoth found ways to unite them. 2:00 Nature of evil... Read moreCould there ever be a good orc?
In this discussion from our Stewards of Gondor recordings, we talk about Nimloth, the White Tree of Gondor. We also talk about Elrond solving everyone’s problem by just kicking Isildur into a volcano and the Netflix Shannara series. 00:30... Read moreThe White Tree
In this, the last part of our conversation about the Stewards of Gondor, we discuss a whole mess o’ stuff. We talk about some of the issues Erica has with the Two Towers theatrical release, Rivendell’s used car sales, Boromir... Read moreThe Fall of Denethor
In our third installment of the Stewards of Gondor, we get to the family interactions between Denethor, Boromir, and Faramir. It’s all about leadership style, oddly enough. Dan shares some of his military experience, and Erica mispronounces Imladris several times.... Read moreThe Leadership of Denethor, Boromir, and Faramir
In this continuation of our conversation about the stewards of Gondor, we talk about Denethor using the palantír, Sauron using the palantír, and the different military situations in Osgiliath and Ithilien. Episode Timeline 1:00 Where did he get a palantír... Read moreDenethor, the palantíri, and the war against Sauron
In this episode we start our conversation about the Stewards of Gondor. We discuss why Gondor has stewards instead of a king and how Denethor is kind of a baby about it. We touch on why Denethor seems so annoyed... Read moreThe Stewards of Gondor
In part 2 of the Istari episode, we talked briefly about stone carving and the Lizzadro Museum. Erica got really excited about it, so we decided to go and record a little bit afterwards, and this is the result. While... Read moreField Trip – Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art
This is a discussion we had in pieces while recording our upcoming episode on The House of Denethor (scheduled for release September 28th). We talk about the relationship between Aragorn and Elrond and why it’s such a big deal to... Read moreMinisode: Elrond, Aragorn, and Arwen
We talked about it at about 18:30-23.30 in part 2 of the Istari episode, and now we’re going to the LIzzadro Museum of Lapidary Arts! We’re going to try something new out and give you a little podcast slice of... Read moreAnnouncement – We’re going to the Lizzadro!
In this, final installment of our discussion on the istari, we get to Gandalf and Saruman. We discuss Saruman’s jealousy of Gandalf, what REALLY happened with Gandalf and the balrog, and the lost istari… Tim and Dirk. 1:24 Istari were... Read moreThe Istari – Part 3
In this second part of our Istari episode, we get WAY off topic… or are we just doing some holistic detective work to get where we needed to be? We discuss a little bit about the less known wizards, Radagast,... Read moreThe Istari – Part 2
In this episode, we talk about the Istari, perhaps better known as the wizards! That’s right, we’re talking about Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast, and yes, a couple more. Who are they? Why are they in Middle-Earth? What about Sauron, does he... Read moreThe Istari – Part 1
In this discussion from our Gandalf and the rings episode, we talk about the theme of hand/finger loss in Tolkien’s writing. We get Wormtongue and Wormtail mixed up. We acknowledge the ableism in the treatment of hand loss. There’s a... Read moreMinisode: Wormtongue, Wormtail, and Ableism
In this discussion from our Gandalf and the rings episode, we talk about Sauron in the game Shadow of Mordor. Dan describes some of the interesting cutscenes with Celebrimbor and Sauron. Sauron is acting as Annatar, the Lord of Gifts... Read moreMinisode: Sauron’s Shape and the Shadow of Mordor
In this discussion from our Gandalf and the rings episode, we talk about how resilient hobbits can be. Erica fangirls about Sam some more. Dan discusses the military experience of leaving home and returning to find home and yourself changed.... Read moreMinisode: Resilience of Hobbits and the Impact of War
In this episode, we talk about what Gandalf and his knowledge of the One Ring. Why doesn’t Gandalf know right away that Bilbo has Sauron’s ring? How did he figure it out? How did the ring get to a place... Read moreGandalf and Bilbo’s Ring
In this discussion from our Gandalf and Rings episode, we discuss how different people are impacted through the ring’s powers of domination. Dan discusses Gollum’s role in Shadow of Mordor where his character is extended into a new story. Our... Read moreMinisode: Gollum and Shadow of Mordor
In this discussion from our Gandalf and Bilbo’s Ring episode(due to be published the week of July 23rd), we talk about the other rings, specifically the Dwarven rings of power. Was it a ring that made Thorin so unstable? Was... Read moreMinisode: Dwarven Rings and Gold Sickness
In this discussion from our Great Eagles episode, we talk about the fact that wizards are immortal. It really isn’t clear in the Lord of the Rings, but a wizard isn’t just a guy that decided to class wizard on... Read moreMinisode: Wizards
In this discussion from our Great Eagles episode, we talk about Elrond and Arwen. Erica is wrong right out of the gate. It’s not Elrond’s kids that can choose immortality, it’s the descendants of Eȁrendil. Elrond chose immortality and his... Read moreMinisode: Elrond and Arwen
The Great Eagles a lighthearted discussion about why the eagles didn’t help destroy the ring Welcome to the first episode of The Fifth Age Podcast: Tolkien Stories! In this episode, we talk about the great eagles. We address the idea... Read moreThe Great Eagles