Can you tell us how you really feel about ROP or do you not believe in scholarly rigor anymore. There may not be a cannon of events but the nature of the eldar is central to his philosophy of faerie

The first 14 minutes address how to access the podcast and how his lectures and podcasts would be scheduled at n the future. The podcaster needs to respect the value of the listener’s time. Maybe he has something to say. I personally won’t put up with that crap.

Yes.

I've always been a Tolkien fan and I stumbled upon this podcast and Corey's work. I've learned a ton from listening and I'd say it's worth subscribing for anyone interested in Tolkien's work!

This is the perfect podcast for Tolkien fans! I've been listening for years and have learned a lot. The content is deep yet entertaining. This podcast has greatly increased my appreciation of, and love for, Tolkien's works.

This is simply the best Tolkien podcast available. Not all of the episodes may be of interest to listeners. However, if you want to hear a good lecture/discussion series of the Hobbit, LOTR, Silmarillion, just scroll through the episodes and set up a playlist

The podcasts haven't been all that great. Stick to the Classes and Tolkien chats unless you are a HARDCORE fan the rest will be boring.

This is the most amazing podcast ever (just that he's my favorite). When I catch up here I've found you in iTunes-U. Excellent content!!

Wow thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge about Tolkien with all of us. God Speed! PadmesLover

If you're a fan of Tolkien's works as well as quality scholarship, don't miss Dr Olsen's take on both past and current uses and adaptations of the great storyteller's work.

Please stay forever.

Highly recommend to any LotR nerds. It’s a lot of fun to explore a whole new dimension to Tolkien and his work.

it’s for listening to it!!! YAY!!!

I listen to a lot of podcasts, but there are only two that would dramatically change my life for the worse if they disappeared. This is one of them. It is difficult to express how much I appreciate this podcast, and how much it has improved my understanding and love for Tolkien and for literature in general. I can't recommend it highly enough.

I have been listening to this podcast for years and I consider it in my top 5 of all podcasts I listen to. The only complaint I have is Trish's loud cackle. I know it's very nitpicky of me to pinpoint her cackle, but I find it extremely distracting to the show. If you could find a way to minimize the cackle, maybe lower the volume in post production or maybe have Trish learn a new laugh, that would be great. Thanks

Thanks for having these available

I found this podcast after listening to the Titanium Physicist podcast which had the professor on as a guest. I also recently finished listening to the new unabridged Hobbit audio book. I gave this show a try and I am hooked.

What drew me to this show were the lecture series, class recordings, and interviews with fellow academics. The show had turned into a typical, bland, editorial discussion of the Hobbit films. Corey Olsen is a true academic and I miss his concise, always-on-topic episodes. They used to challenge me to think differently about Tolkien by considering the other works served as his inspiration. Now, instead of a 60-90 learning session, episodes are clocking in at almost 3 hours and are mostly joking around. Add the constant feedback hum of Trish's microphone, background interruptions, and Dave's desperate need to talk about how he loves to be contrary for the sake of being contrary and I just don't enjoy it anymore.

It used to be mostly Prof. Olsen and, while there could be a wait between episodes, they were like happy little gems when they showed up on the feed. Now his show has been hijacked by chattering heads. Who are these people and why should I care? Of course, I've listened enough to know who they are and more than enough to know I don't care. The professor is a Tolkien scholar and listening to him talk about Tolkien or myth or fairy tales is an education. Listening to these other people is like eavesdropping on a poorly run, and particularly dim, book club. What have you done with Prof. Olsen!? I could tolerate these bad episodes on the feed while waiting for the gems if the sound quality wasn't so terrible. I'm not talking about the lectures or the Silmarillion episodes which, though they also can be hard to listen to, circumstances make understandable. I'm talking about these Digest episodes and other "studio" episodes. I can hear tweets and e-mail chimes, every mic is set at radically different levels, some mics don't have filters and some do. It's headache inducing. All this can be fixed in post, but no one cares enough, I suppose.

The analyzing he does of Tolkien in his classes and on his other podcasts/call-ins are intriguing. He is a literary critic who uses the text and world to analyze, not who the author was or what Tolkien's religious views were or any nonsense like that. It's as if he's analyzing the text the way Tolkien would!

… are you ever planning on doing a series focused on The Lord of the Rings? I love all of Tolkien's work and your Silmarillion and Hobbit material has been outstanding, but I think I speak for a great deal of Tolkien's readership (quite possibly a majority) when I say that of all the man's writings, LotR is both most familiar to me and closest to my heart. Again, I wholeheartedly love this podcast, but I would really like to hear some more Rings-centric episodes.

This podcast had been my favorite for years but has completely fallen apart over the last 16 months. Instead of talking about the works of Tolkien it has become a speculation game of the Jackson movies. They were fun at first but Trish's laugh has worn thin on me and I'm tired of the new format. Professor, can we please get back to the heart of the podcast.

Love listening to these

If you like Tolkien, this is an in-depth analysis of the book and movie. I started with the review of The Hobbit movie to the book, and it was fantastic. The next episode was an analysis of what they know about movie 2, comparing the news of the movie to what's in the book. Just a wonderful look at what Tolkien was focusing on his writing, the symbolism, and everything else. OTOH, this podcast may not be for the casual fan. :-)

I just found these not long ago and I have really enjoyed them. An absolute must for Tolkien fans.

Why do in 2 hours what could be done in 20 minutes? Next podcast please.

After tiring of Fr R's constant dwelling on the film and all of its tedious detail, I followed Dave K's advice to check out this netcast. This is perfect! It's high quality analysis by a competent academic with an obvious love of the work. Bravo, Prof Corey!

By far, very far, the first Hobbit lectures are the best. Then the Tolkien class at Washington College... but the digest and siminar are kinda bad. Too many people, annoying and talking over eachother. People calling in are the worst. Prof. Olsen, we just want to hear from you; you're breakdown, insight, and opinion.

Sure, Professor Olsen tackles the BIG themes like God, love, and pork pies, but where's the shout out for Father Christmas and the North Polar Bear? I appreciate the time he spends on Tom Bombadil and Goldberry and why the Ring of Power won't affect him. (I have my own theory on that . . .). But I haven't seen Farmer Giles' life compared to Bilbo's or, better yet, to the Gaffer at Bag End. And Roverandom could be a second cousin of Huan, or Orome's new truffle-hunter. We need to know. Please, Professor, Christmas is coming!!!

First, let me say, this podcast is a delight. Corey Olsen's insight into the world of Tolkien is second to none and consistently fascinating. The podcast covers all of Tolkien's works in multiple formats (lecture style, discussion based, even via panels of other Tolkien experts), and has, of late, focused most of the episodes on the upcoming Hobbit film. Start with the early content and work your way through, it's a magical journey of literary discovery that is well worth the time. Unfortunately, though, not all is peachy in the Tolkien Professor world. And this problem has a name. One of the co-hosts, Trish--who, for the record, has perfectly appropriate comments to offer--has an ear grating cackling laugh that she lets rip seemingly directly into the microphone. Loud, often, and, all to regularly, at her own generally unfunny jokes. This isn't all her fault, it seems like the audio feed on her end is also often dialed up louder than the other contributors, but it does have the effect of me compulsively and frequently jumping forward in the podcast to try to avoid her annoying chortle. Seems like an easy fix; be mindful of laughing directly into the mic, lower the volume on her machine, and, generally, let Corey do the bulk of the talking. All in all, though, highly recommended. Just get back to the basics of Corey (and occasionally Dave) providing the majority of the content.

I enjoy these podcasts, more the ones with Corey in it than Digest episodes. I understand and appreciate Dave and Trish's contributions, but between Trish's manic laugh, frequent interruptions by her screeching or barking animals in the background and mike hangups, I am close to giving up on the Digest episodes. I hope this will be taken as consturctive criticism- it would be nice to maintain a professional quality in these podcasts. Update: Now that Trish has joined the main Riddles in the Dark podcast as well, my concerns for the quality of the show have only deepened. Her mike settings are louder than Corey's or Dave's, which doesn't help. I really hope these comments will be taken as constructive criticism for the improvement of the podcasts.

This podcast started out as a very positive, informative, light hearted look at Tolkien's incredible world lead by the Tolkien Professor. I found myself leaving each podcast enjoying the books and movies all the more and regularly going back and rereading chapters. Now, it's turned into the Dave show (who is this guy again and why do I care?) with regular guest appearances by the Professor. The silmarillian seminars likewise have turned into people talking over each other and arguing in circles about insignificant points/opinions without the Professor there to keep the conversation focused. The overall tone of the shows has turned very negative with the usual course of conversation ending with Dave and Trish complaining about what Peter Jackson has done or might possibly do. I haven't been able to finish a complete episode in months because the negative conversation bums me out. Also, you guys have been doing this long enough. Get the audio figured out. My speakers should not tear every time Trish chimes in. Nor should we always hear Dave and Trish clicking on their mouse, typing on their keyboards, dogs barking, taking drinks, turning the sink on, etc while Corey is talking. Make Corey the center of the podcast again. He's why we're all tuning in.

I absolutely love this podcast, but where are the rest of the Silmarillion seminar episodes? I got to the second part of Turin Turambar and was distraught to find that the episodes ended there. Will the rest be posted?

I dono what the guy above is talking about. Some of the insights are ones a close reader would pick on, but Dr. Olsen contextualizes everything so well, and makes so many points not every reader would consider. He also seems like a genuinely nice guy who is just passionate about Tolkien, and thrilled to share it, and I thank him for it. The academic stuff is better than the other content, but it's all excellent.

This is a delightful and intriguing podcast. I had read all of Tolkien's books before but never experienced the depths these stories can truly offer. Professor Olsen and his comrades have opened new insights for me and increased my love for these great stories.

Really Good Stuff!!

If there was a 6'th army at The Battles of 5 Armies, and that army was from The Realm of the Truly Ignorant, the reviewer from July 3 2011 would be its king.

I am not the biggest fan of Lord of the Rings. It took the movies to get me to read these books again after I tried in the 60's. I had friends who named kids after the characters and tried to adopt the life style of the elves (the tall friends) or hobbits (the rest of the readers). I do however enjoy listening to these podcasts and have gotten insight into Tolkien's body of work that makes me appreciate if not enjoy the books. I personally find them slow and crammed with info that slows down the plot and takes away from the characters. I did like the Hobbit and the Silmarillion better then LoTr. What I also like about this podcast is the refresher course in how to be a good reader. It has been years since I was in a formal lit class and these lectures are enhancing my approach to other books. I have read a number of the Anglo Saxon and early English texts so enjoy the commentary on these works. What I dislike about this podcast is the annoying giggling of girl groupies in the background every time this lecturer says anything remotely amusing. I had forgotten what it was like to be an undergraduate and that is a blessing. Other than that I highly recommend this podcast to anyone who wants a good set of lectures on literature. I have now down graded my stars to two. This cast has strayed from being informative and interesting into compete nerd hood. I have heard about what may or may not be in the film ad naseum. The film is not out yet. The pod cast is pointless. Please get back to discussing Tolkien as a writer. Ugh!

You can learn a lot from these podcasts, highly recommended!

Intelligent yet modest, insightful yet entertaining; Cory Olsen's podcast is a must for Tolkien enthusiasts. Rarely does one find a scholar as passionate, outspoken, and ambitious. Enjoy!

I listen to about 10 podcasts. This is one of them. This is what a podcast should be. Thanks!

I've always been a huge fan of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit but it's been years since I read the books- this podcast reawakened my interest to re-read them again. I'd recommend the podcast to any Tolkien lover.

This is the "must" for any Tolkien fan

Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Prof. Tolkien woud send this self-important tool out the front door with a few well-aimed smoke-rings, and return to his breakfast cereal, without a hair out of place. I tried this podcast about 2 years ago, and gave up. I just tried again, and confirmed my earlier impression:Dude is a wndbag with no insights that a careful reader wouldn't find. I sincerly hope I owe less on my student loans than this guy, because right now I'm doing more with my degree in Retail than he is in Academia. (not counting overtime ...) Did he even *read* the books?

I discovered the first of these podcasts via iTunes U, and I was despairing that there seemed to be an end to them after last summer. Now I see that the professor is still going strong, and there is much rejoicing. I adore this podcast and I look forward to every single episode. They're done so well and with such passion you can't help but get swept up into it, all while gaining a deeper appreciation of Tolkien's world.

...and I listen to a lot of podcast on a wide variety of topics. But I'm an enormous Tolkien fan, and have been pretty much my whole life. I've dug into a lot of the things behind his works - as much as a layperson can I suppose - and it was wonderful to see another person doing a rigorous, close reading of the text, who brings far more knowledge to the table than I can. I cannot say enough good things about this show.

I can't believe how fun and informative these are! Tolkien is a hard read, but the good Dr. Provides analysis and wonderful insight into the man and his writings. I have been ending my days with these podcasts-Solid 5 without doubt!

This is the best podcast out there. The professor gives a whole new understanding of Tolkien's works. You can read the books again for the first time.

Outstanding, well-organized content. Thank you for making these available, Professor...perhaps my Christmas gift this year was stumbling on this podcast. Very entertaining and spot-on analysis.