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Curated playlist

The Lord of the Rings

  • Phial of GaladrielFrodo held up the Phial of Galadriel instead of putting on the One Ring. Its light restored his senses.
  • Constructing The Lord of the RingsThe hero of an early Lord of the Rings draft was a hobbit named Bingo.
  • The Council of ElrondThe Council of Elrond is a 15,000-word chapter in which no swords are drawn. Twelve people sit in a garden and talk.
  • The Lord of the RingsA Collins contact told Tolkien that The Lord of the Rings "urgently wanted cutting."
  • Literary devices in The Lord of the RingsTolkien presented The Lord of the Rings as a translation of an ancient manuscript.
  • The History of The Lord of the RingsFrodo was first a Hobbit named Bingo in Tolkien's drafts. Christopher Tolkien traced these changes in four volumes.
  • The Two TowersTolkien was "not at all happy about the title The Two Towers." He never settled which two of five towers it meant.
  • The Return of the KingTolkien disliked the title The Return of the King because it gave away too much. He preferred The War of the Ring.
  • The Fellowship of the RingWas the scary-then-safe rhythm of The Fellowship of the Ring planned, or a writer finding his way?
  • Tolkien and antiquarianismTolkien burned page edges with his pipe and washed them with red paint. He was faking a relic for The Lord of the Rings.
  • Red Book of WestmarchThe Red Book of Westmarch never existed, yet Tolkien wrote about it as though it did. He cast himself as its translator.
  • HobbitHobbits began as one sentence Tolkien wrote on a blank exam page. He was grading student papers around 1930 or 1931.
  • The Scouring of the ShireFour hobbits return home from saving the world and find the bridge locked. Their Shire has been taken over.
  • The Tale of Aragorn and ArwenAragorn first met Arwen by calling her the wrong name. In Rivendell's woods, he called her Tinúviel.

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