Tea with Tolkien

To Hello, my friends! I'm so happy to share this recording of our live Q&A that was hosted in our discord yesterday. Dr. Holly Ordway was gracious enough to join us to chat all about her latest book, Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography. As a brief aside, I'm sorry my voice sounds a bit rough in this interview - I'm recovering from a pretty nasty illness, but I couldn't miss this Q&A. I hope you enjoy it! To join our discord, you can sign up with your email address at teawithtolkien.com/discord.Dr. Ordway's Website: https://hollyordway.com/Order Tolkien's Faith on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3qtie3mDr. Ordway Interview with Michael Ward: https://www.wordonfire.org/videos/tolkiens-faith-dr-michael-ward-interviews-holly-ordway/ Tea with Tolkien Website: www.teawithtolkien.com Tea with Tolkien Discord: www.teawithtolkien.com/discord

Episode Notes: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/blog/fon-6 If you'd like to join in on the discussion, you can sign up for our book club at www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club to receive the link to our discord server. If you'd like to support Tea with Tolkien by becoming a patron, you can learn more at www.patreon.com/teawithtolkien

Episode Notes: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/blog/fon-5 If you'd like to join in on the discussion, you can sign up for our book club at www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club to receive the link to our discord server. If you'd like to support Tea with Tolkien by becoming a patron, you can learn more at www.patreon.com/teawithtolkien

Hello and welcome to Tea with Tolkien, an online community for the Hobbit at Heart. We are inspired by the works, life, and Catholic faith of JRR Tolkien and strive to encourage others towards a deeper love and understanding of Tolkien's Legendarium by hosting a free book club, providing free resources such as our Silmarillion Reader's guide, and cultivating a vibrant and positive online community. Our book club is currently reading through this newly released book, The Fall of Númenor, edited by Brian Sibley. If you'd like to join in on the discussion, you can sign up for our book club at www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club to receive the link to our discord server. If you'd like to support Tea with Tolkien by becoming a patron, you can learn more at www.patreon.com/teawithtolkien

Hello and welcome to Tea with Tolkien, an online community for the Hobbit at Heart. We are inspired by the works, life, and Catholic faith of JRR Tolkien and strive to encourage others towards a deeper love and understanding of Tolkien's Legendarium by hosting a free book club, providing free resources such as our Silmarillion Reader's guide, and cultivating a vibrant and positive online community. Our book club is currently reading through this newly released book, The Fall of Númenor, edited by Brian Sibley. If you'd like to join in on the discussion, you can sign up for our book club at www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club to receive the link to our discord server. If you'd like to support Tea with Tolkien by becoming a patron, you can learn more at www.patreon.com/teawithtolkien NEXT Session: Aldarion and Erendis, part one: “Aldarion and Erendis pg. 66 - 82” Resources: Part Three Blog Post: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/blog/fon-3 Digital Tolkien: https://digitaltolkien.com/ Tolkien Gateway Page on Vardamir: https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Vardamir Gideon's Timeline: https://gideonslife.com/tolkien/secondage LOTR Project: http://lotrproject.com/

Hello and welcome to Tea with Tolkien, an online community for the Hobbit at Heart. We are inspired by the works, life, and Catholic faith of JRR Tolkien and strive to encourage others towards a deeper love and understanding of Tolkien's Legendarium by hosting a free book club, providing free resources such as our Silmarillion Reader's guide, and cultivating a vibrant and positive online community. Our book club is currently reading through this newly released book, The Fall of Númenor, edited by Brian Sibley. If you'd like to join in on the discussion, you can sign up for our book club at www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club to receive the link to our discord server. For the sake of our book club, I've broken down The Fall of Numenor into ten sections and so today we'll be covering the second ‘section': Foundation of the Grey Havens through The Life of the Númenóreans (pg. 1- 42). I'll begin with a summary of each section, followed by a recap of our book club's discussion for those who may have missed our live chat. Resources:Tea with Tolkien Section Two Notes: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/blog/fon-2 Join our Book Club: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club Dancing Bears of Numenor Artwork by MGCoco-Art: https://twitter.com/mgcoco_art/status/1432839127641178118 The Complete Guide to Middle-earth by Robert Foster: https://amzn.to/3XP0kmv The Complete Tolkien Companion by J.E.A. Taylor: https://amzn.to/3D4Omxa The Atlas of Middle-earth: https://amzn.to/3D86y96 The Nature of Middle-earth: https://amzn.to/3Hrk0Y8 Encyclopedia of Arda: https://www.glyphweb.com/arda/a/anadune.html Tea with Tolkien Silmarillion Guide: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/shop Tweet Discussing Numenorean Height: https://twitter.com/TeawithTolkien/status/1620142561422897153

Hello and welcome to Tea with Tolkien, an online community for the Hobbit at Heart. We are inspired by the works, life, and Catholic faith of JRR Tolkien and strive to encourage others towards a deeper love and understanding of Tolkien's Legendarium by hosting a free book club, providing free resources such as our Silmarillion Reader's guide, and cultivating a vibrant and positive online community. Our book club is currently reading through this newly released book, The Fall of Númenor, edited by Brian Sibley. This book was released last November, so just a few months ago at the time of recording, and our community voted and chose to read this for our first book club of 2023. If you'd like to join in on the discussion, you can sign up for our book club at www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club to receive the link to our discord server. For the sake of our book club, I've broken down The Fall of Numenor into ten sections and so today we'll be covering the first ‘section': from “About this Book” through “Before the Second Age”. I'll begin with a summary of each section, followed by a recap of our book club's discussion for those who may have missed our live chat. This week we are covering Part One: Introduction: “About this Book” through “Before the Second Age” Resources: The Complete Guide to Middle-earth by Robert Foster: https://amzn.to/3XP0kmv The Complete Tolkien Companion by J.E.A. Taylor: https://amzn.to/3D4Omxa The Atlas of Middle-earth: https://amzn.to/3D86y96 The Nature of Middle-earth: https://amzn.to/3Hrk0Y8 Nerd of the Rings for Lore Videos (Youtube): https://www.youtube.com/c/NerdoftheRings Tea with Tolkien Silmarillion Guide: https://www.teawithtolkien.com/shop/silmarillion-readers-guide https://mythgard.org/academy/book-of-lost-tales-part-1/ https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Athrabeth_Finrod_ah_Andreth https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Host_of_the_Valar https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/The_Notion_Club_Papers https://www.teawithtolkien.com/blog/Letter131 https://www.amazon.com/Toward-Gleam-T-M-Doran-ebook/dp/B004UC7K4S

Book IV of The Lord of the Rings follows Frodo and Sam as they slowly journey towards the Land of Mordor. After leaving the Fellowship behind, they become lost as they wander through the wilderness. Gollum has been pursuing them at length, and finally comes to them as they wander. Rather than hiding or attacking, they take him in as their guide. Gollum guides them eagerly through the Dead Marshes and to the Black Gate, however they soon realize they will need to enter Mordor through a different path. Gollum tells them of a different, secret path which will lead them through a tunnel…

Mentioned in this Episode:Tea with Tolkien Book ClubTolkien Reading DayChrist and Tolkien ConferenceSilmarillion Reader's GuideLOTRonPrime Update PageHobbit Party PageFree Resource LibraryTea with Tolkien Patreon

Book IV of The Lord of the Rings follows Frodo and Sam as they slowly journey towards the Land of Mordor. After leaving the Fellowship behind, they become lost as they wander through the wilderness. Gollum has been pursuing them at length, and finally comes to them as they wander. Rather than hiding or attacking, they take him in as their guide. Gollum guides them eagerly through the Dead Marshes and to the Black Gate, however they soon realize they will need to enter Mordor through a different path. Gollum tells them of a different, secret path which will lead them through a tunnel…

Book Three of The Lord of the Rings brings about many changes for the members of the now-broken Fellowship. A lot of this book feels like atonement for past mistakes -- for Boromir, he has paid with his life; for Aragorn, he seems desperate to discern the correct path forward; for Theoden, he has finally been freed from Grima's influence; for Saruman, the Ents have brought about his well-deserved destruction. And Gandalf has returned against all hope!

You're listening to Tea with Tolkien, a Podcast for the Hobbit at Heart.Join us as we chat about the works and faith of J.R.R. Tolkien, and strive to carry a little piece of Middle-Earth into our own daily lives.This is the second in a seven-part book club series on The Lord of the Rings. These episodes will be released on the first of each month from now through March to accompany our Book Club as we're reading The Lord of the Rings! If you'd like to join our book club, you can visit www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club.Book Two Recap: Major Themes You Do Not Have to Go Alone: In this book, we see the formation and departure of the Fellowship of the Ring. Finally, the quest has fully begun. While Frodo is willing to take the burden of the Ring onto himself, he acknowledges that he doesn't even know where to begin in terms of getting it to Mordor. And Elrond understands that he cannot go alone. However, he doesn't send him forth with a host of great warriors -- rather he sends him in a small group meant to represent all the peoples of Middle-Earth, a group formed largely around friendship! So we see the theme of Fellowship carrying through into Book II. The life-saving, life-giving virtue of friendship. Rivendell & Lothlorien: In this book we are introduced to two of the great homes of Elvendom in Middle-Earth, Rivendell and Lothlorien. Within the bounds of these two realms, the world feels different entirely. It has been preserved and protected by the power of the Elves, and serves as a refuge for those who visit. Heroic Leadership Requires Sacrifice: Looking at Gandalf and Aragorn specifically, we see in this book the way that great leadership requires sacrifice. In Gandalf's case, he was willing to give up his own life to protect the Fellowship from the Balrog. In Aragorn's case, we see that he is willing to deny his own desires -- both to stay in Rivendell and to go straight to Gondor -- for what he realizes are the greater good of the Fellowship. The Protection of Elbereth: Despite being referenced several times by hobbits and elves even in these first two books, the character of Elbereth remains relatively unexplained throughout The Lord of the Rings. However, with a little help from The Silmarillion, we can begin to understand her more clearly. Elbereth Gilthoniel is the Sindarin name for Varda, one of the Ainur and Queen of the Valar. As the creator of the stars and most beloved by the Elves, the name of Elbereth is invoked in times of distress, darkness, and great need. Her beauty is beyond measure or description, and she is feared and hated most by Melkor. In Three is Company, Gildor says to Frodo, “May Elbereth protect you!”; in A Knife in the Dark, Frodo cries out, “O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!” as he is stabbed by the Morgul blade. And as we journey deeper into the story of The Lord of the Rings, her name will be invoked many more times—keep an eye out for it. I'll see you over on our Discord chat for Book II! I hope this episode was helpful and will spark some good discussion. If you aren't a part of our discord server yet, you can join by signing up for our Book Club with your email address at www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club. I'll be back on November 1st to begin our discussion of Book III, which is the first half of The Two Towers. Discord Chat Discussion Prompts:Keep in mind these are just meant to spark discussion and you don't have to answer every one of these! Thoughts on The Council of Elrond: Did you learn anything new? How has reading the Council of Elrond in light of the Silmarillion changed your perspective (if this isn't your first time reading it)? Discuss Saruman's plans as recounted in the Council of Elrond. Do you think he is lying to Gandalf, or do you think he truly believes that he can still achieve his original purpose in the end? Do Balrogs have wings? The Elves as “Perilous and Fair”? Discuss the different approaches towards Galadriel from the different members of the Fellowship as they enter into Lothlorien, especially that of Gimli and Boromir. How has Gimli's heart softened towards the Elves? At what point did this change occur, and how is its timing significant? How does Galadriel's gift to Gimli mark the beginning of a renewed friendship between Dwarves and Elves? Of all of Galadriel's gifts, which stood out to you as the most interesting or meaningful? How did each gift correspond to its recipient, equipping them according to their needs? Have you noticed any other characters in The Lord of the Rings thus far that remind you of Mary? If so, who and why? Thoughts on Boromir: Do you feel sympathetic towards him? Do you find him relatable?

You're listening to Tea with Tolkien, a Podcast for the Hobbit at Heart.Join us as we chat about the works and faith of J.R.R. Tolkien, and strive to carry a little piece of Middle-Earth into our own daily lives.This is the first in a seven-part book club series on The Lord of the Rings. These episodes will be released on the first of each month from now through March to accompany our Book Club as we're reading The Lord of the Rings! If you'd like to join our book club, you can visit www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club. This episode is a quick summary of The Lord of the Rings Book I, meant to spark a conversation about the book in our Discord server!Join us anytime throughout the month on our text channel, or on the voice channel on:September 11 1-2PM ESTSeptember 25 1-2PM EST

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm20My full chapter notes can be read here:

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm19My full chapter notes can be read here: Guide to The Silmarillion: Akallabêth: The Downfall of Númenor

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm18My full chapter notes can be read here: Guide to The Silmarillion: Akallabêth: The Downfall of Númenor

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm17My full chapter notes can be read here: Guide to The Silmarillion: Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath (Ch. 24)

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm16My full chapter notes can be read here: Guide to The Silmarillion: Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin (Ch. 23)

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm15

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm14

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm13

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm12

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/trd2021Recommended Blog Posts:How We‘re Celebrating Tolkien Reading Day 2020Why March 25th Might Be The Most Important Date of all HistoryWhy Middle-Earth Matters: 11 Reasons You Should Be Reading TolkienBeyond The Lord of the Rings: Getting to Know Tolkien through his Shorter WorksReading The Lord of the Rings: Resources & Recommendations

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm10

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm10

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm9

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm8

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm7

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm6

For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm5

This book club will run through the end of May and then we’ll begin a new book club in the fall. If you have any suggestions for our fall book club, keeping in mind that it should be something written by Tolkien or at least someone Tolkien-adjacent, you can find me on instagram or twitter @teawithtolkien. If you’d like to sign up, you can do so here. For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm4

If you’re following along with our Tea with Tolkien book club, this is week two of our The Silmarillion read-along! We are only on week two out of twenty, and we haven’t covered too much ground already so if you’d like to jump in there’s still time! This book club will run through the end of May and then we’ll begin a new book club in the fall. If you have any suggestions for our fall book club, keeping in mind that it should be something written by Tolkien or at least someone Tolkien-adjacent, you can find me on instagram or twitter @teawithtolkien. If you’d like to sign up, you can do so here. For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm3

If you’re following along with our Tea with Tolkien book club, this is week two of our The Silmarillion read-along! We are only on week two out of twenty, and we haven’t covered too much ground already so if you’d like to jump in there’s still time! This book club will run through the end of May and then we’ll begin a new book club in the fall. If you have any suggestions for our fall book club, keeping in mind that it should be something written by Tolkien or at least someone Tolkien-adjacent, you can find me on instagram or twitter @teawithtolkien. If you’d like to sign up, you can do so here. So this week we’re discussing the first part of The Silmarillion, "Ainulindalë: The Music of the Ainur" as well as Valaquenta. These two chapters are separate from the Quenta Silmarillion, or the Silmarillion proper as it’s often referred, which we are beginning next week. For show notes, visit www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/silm2

If you’re following along with our Tea with Tolkien book club, this week we are beginning with our The Silmarillion read-along! If you’d like to sign up, you can do so here. Before we dive into the The Silmarillion next week, I thought it would be helpful to spend a bit of time reading and discussing The Waldman Letter. The Waldman letter is a letter written to Milton Waldman, an editor and advisor to publishers in London, who had expressed and interest in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion after the widespread success of The Hobbit. For context, The Hobbit was published in 1937, this letter was written in 1951, and The Fellowship of the Ring would not be published until 1954. Tolkien had hoped to published LOTR and The Silmarillion together and this letter reflects his belief that the two were interdependent. The letter can be read in a few places:In part, on the Tolkien Estate Website (there is a large chunk missing in the middle in which Tolkien writes about the creation of his world and its history through the Second Age)The Letters of JRR Tolkien, Letter 131In the preface to The Silmarillion (second edition only)This letter is important because it pieces together all of Tolkien’s stories concerning Middle-Earth, showing how they are all a part of the same great tale. What’s in the Waldman Letter?“My dear Milton, You asked for a brief sketch of my stuff that is connected with my imaginary world…”Tolkien writes that he can’t remember when he wasn’t building his imaginary world or its languages, noting that almost all the names in his world are derived from these languages. This gives his works a specific kind of consistency which others may not have. Tolkien has always been passionate about myth, desiring a myth that could be uniquely English.Tolkien addresses that three major themes of his works are Fall, Mortality, and Machine.He then goes on to write about the Magic of the Elves as Art versus the enemy’s use of Machine After that, he launches into a summary of his world’s history, from its creation all the way through its third age, which I will not attempt to summarize myself for the sake of brevity and in hopes of simply encouraging you to read this letter for yourself.

This week we’re joined by Rosie Hill of A Blog for My Mom to chat about her family’s homesteading journey! Rosie shares about her experience, what she’s learned, and her favorite resources for anyone interested in taking steps towards living like a hobbit in this way. I hope you’ll enjoy it! Me in February: trying to convince everyone to start a garden, bake their own bread, and homeschoolEveryone: *not caring*Me in March: trying to convince everyone to start a garden, bake their own bread, and homeschoolEveryone: *asking me all the questions bc IT'S HAPPENING*— Rosie Hill (@RosieHill425) March 26, 2020 Connect with RosieHer Blog: A Blog for My MomRosie’s InstagramRosie’s TwitterMentioned in this EpisodeRosie’s Pizza Crust RecipeCarrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful GardeningThe Backyard Homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre!Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

This week, we’re talking about Tolkien’s essay “On Fairy Stories”, looking at Tolkien’s term Eucatastrophe, and how Tolkien calls the Gospels the Greatest Fairy-Story.I wanted to begin with a little bit on Tolkien’s essay, On Fairy-Stories. Now this is in no way comprehensive because it’s really quite a long essay, but I still wanted to give you all an intro. Written in 1939, this essay was presented by Tolkien as the as the Andrew Lang lecture at the University of St Andrews, in Scotland. For a bit of context, Andrew Lang was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and anthropologist with a love for folk and fairy tales. Tolkien’s essay was a response to Lang’s work as a folklorist and collector of fairy tales but it really grew into something much more.On The Tolkien Estate’s website you can find an essay written by Verlyn Flieger, where she discusses On Fairy -Stories. “If it were nothing else, “On Fairy-stories” would have a primary place in Tolkien scholarship as Tolkien’s definitive statement about his art — which he called “Sub-creation” — and the concept that lies behind it — the power of words to create a Secondary World. However, “On Fairy-stories” has a good deal more to offer, and to a wider audience, than a simple artistic declaration, however important, to a fellowship of scholars. It is also a wide-ranging discussion aimed at anyone interested in the subject of fairy tales…”“And finally and above all, it is essential reading for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the multivalent myth, epic and fairy tale romance that is The Lord of the Rings.” Verlyn FliegerTolkien addresses three questions primarily: What are fairy stories? What are their origins? And what is the use of them? It is also in On Fairy-Stories that we first see the word Eucatastrophe, a term coined by Tolkien himself, which we’ll talk about in a bit. So if you weren’t sure if it was an essay worth reading, I hope by now you’re convinced! You can find On Fairy Stories in a few different places. First, there are a few free PDFs floating around the internet and I’m linking to one of them in the show notes. If you’d like to purchase a copy or perhaps find one at your local library, you can find it included in “Tree and Leaf” or “The Monsters and the Critics”. Both are linked at the bottom of this post.I wanted to read the first few lines of the essay because I think they set the tone quite well for the rest of the essay, as well as my own Tolkien studies. “I propose to speak about fairy-stories, though I am aware that this is a rash adventure. Faerie is a perilous land, and in it are pitfalls for the unwary and dungeons for the overbold. And overbold I may be accounted, for though I have been a lover of fairy-stories since I learned to read, and have at times thought about them, I have not studied them professionally. I have been hardly more than a wandering explorer (or trespasser) in the land, full of wonder but not of information.”- JRR Tolkien, On Fairy StoriesIf you’ve been listening to our podcast for a while, I think I read this quote in our very first episode because it reflects my own feelings toward reading and studying Tolkien -- I am a lover of Tolkien’s works, although I haven’t studied them professionally (yet). So after just a super brief introduction to On Fairy Stories, I wanted to discuss a question that’s come up a lot over the years, moreso in my experience in Evangelical circles but it’s also something I’ve heard Catholics wrestle with: Should Christians read fairy tales? To put it plainly, the answer is yes. In “On Fairy Stories”, Tolkien offers such a beautiful explanation that I wanted to share it with you all. Towards the end of the essay, Tolkien introduces the word ‘Eucatastrophe’, a term of his own invention. In letter 89 to his son Christopher, Tolkien refers to the essay:“And all of the sudden I realized what it was: the very thing that I have been trying to write about and explain - in that fairy-story essay that I so much wish you had read that I think I shall send it to you. For it I coined the word ‘eucatastrophe’: the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears (which I argued in is the highest function of fairy-stories to produces). And I was there led to the view that it produces its peculiar effect because it is a sudden glimpse of Truth, your whole nature chained in material cause and effect, the chain of death, feels a sudden relief as if a major limb out of join had suddenly snapped back. It perceives -- if the story has literary ‘truth’ on the second plane (for which see the essay) -- that this is indeed how things really do work in the Great World for which our nature is made. And I concluded by saying that the Resurrection was the greatest ‘eucatastrophe’ possible in the greatest Fairy Story -- and produces that essential emotion: Christian joy which produces tears because it is qualitatively so like sorrow, because it comes from those places where Joy and Sorrow are at one, reconciled, as selfishness and altruism are lost in Love. Of course I do not mean that the Gospels tell what is only a fairy-story; but I do mean very strongly that they do tell a fairy-story: the greatest. Man the story-teller would have to be redeemed in a manner consonant with his nature: by a moving story. But since the author of it is the supreme Artist and the Author of Reality, this one was also made to Be, to be true on the Primary Plane…” JRR Tolkien, Letter 89But not all fairy-tales are created equal, and not all fantastical stories are fairy-tales, at least Tolkien would argue this. “Far more important is the Consolation of the Happy Ending. Almost I would venture to assert that all complete fairy-stories must have it. At least I would say that Tragedy is the true form of Drama, its highest function; but the opposite is true of Fairy-story. Since we do not appear to possess a word that expresses this opposite--I will call it Eucatastrophe. The eucatastrophic tale is the true form of fairy-tale, and its highest function.” “It is the mark of a good fairy-story, of the higher or more complete kind, that however wild its events, however fantastic or terrible the adventures, it can give to child or man that hears it, when the “turn” comes,a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the heart, near to (or accompanied by) tears, as keen as that given by any form of literary art, and having a peculiar quality.” - JRR Tolkien, On Fairy StoriesStories that produce this form of Joy are good for our souls; all small eucatastrophes of the Secondary World will, in the end, point us to, or offer us glimpses of, the Great Eucatastrophe. In his poem Mythopoeia, Tolkien puts forth the argument that myths are not lies as C.S. Lewis once argued, but that they reflect in some way the True Myth, which is the story of Christ. Joseph Pearce elaborates on this idea in an article entitled, J.R.R. Tolkien: Truth and Myth: “Building on this philosophy of myth, Tolkien explained to Lewis that the story of Christ was the true myth at the very heart of history and at the very root of reality. Whereas the pagan myths were manifestations of God expressing Himself through the minds of poets, using the images of their "mythopoeia" to reveal fragments of His eternal truth, the true myth of Christ was a manifestation of God expressing Himself through Himself, with Himself, and in Himself. God, in the Incarnation, had revealed Himself as the ultimate poet who was creating reality, the true poem or true myth, in His own image. Thus, in a divinely inspired paradox, myth was revealed as the ultimate realism.” - Joseph Pearce, J.R.R. Tolkien: Truth and MythTolkien calls the Gospels a fairy-story, a myth, but not just any fairy-story, not just any myth — the Greatest Fairy Story, the True Myth. The truth of Christianity, to Tolkien, is at the very root of reality, and these higher or complete fairy-stories and myths Tolkien refers to reveal slivers of it, some more, some less. Mentioned in this Episode:On Fairy-Stories PDFEssay on the EssayTree and LeafThe Monsters and the CriticsJoseph Pearce, J.R.R. Tolkien: Truth and Myth

So if you’re listening to this right now in the Long Lent of 2020, we are currently in the midst of a pandemic due to the coronavirus! I hope if you’re listening at some point in the future that things have settled down and everything is just fine and we’ve put this whole thing far, far behind us…But right now, we’re all struggling. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been affected by this.On top of worrying about the actual virus, many of us are also experiencing a sudden loss of income, a dramatic change in our daily routine, some of you I know have been alone in your apartment for weeks and are having a difficult time adjusting to simply being alone all the time. You need a hug. I hope this can be like a virtual hug in whatever way that’s possible.Healthcare workers like my husband and many of our friends are working extra hours under higher stress, and many others are navigating working from home… It’s just all around very stressful for everyone in a lot of different ways.I wanted to share this episode with our current situation in mind but I think it will be useful for any time you find yourself having to stay at home for long periods of time, or honestly whenever you need a little encouragement or inspiration to be a bit more Hobbity.I also wanted to say that staying home, social distancing, self-quarantine… whatever you call it… would naturally be very difficult for Hobbits as they loved spending time with each other, throwing parties, gathering at the pub to gossip about Bilbo and Frodo… and it’s okay that it’s hard for us too.We were created to live in fellowship and we are being asked to make this sacrifice for the time being, and I just wanted to acknowledge that it’s okay if you’re struggling with this. That being said, I hope sharing these ideas will help you feel a little inspired and cheered up and ready to choose well what to do with this time that’s been given to you.Read | This one might seem obvious, but log out of Netflix and pick up a book! Scrolling through twitter for 14 hours a day is not good for you, ask me how I know. Obviously I’m going to recommend reading Tolkien. If you haven’t read The Lord of the Rings yet, now’s your chance. And if you have but you haven’t read The Silmarillion, do it! If you’ll be ordering books online, check if any of your local bookstores offer online shopping, or try getting it straight from the publisher if possible. Smaller businesses are hurting right now, so try to support them if you can.If you need any other book recommendations, visit teawithtolkien.com/bookshelf for all of my book reviews and my to-be-read list. Many of them are available on the Kindle, so you don’t have to worry about going to a bookstore or ordering anything online.Go Outside | I can’t help but imagine a bunch of hobbits sitting on their front porches yelling to one another about potatoes and cabbages. If you have a porch, so sit on it! In whatever way you’re able, even if it’s just opening a window and breathing a little fresh air -- DO IT. I try to take a walk everyday with the kids and it helps so much. So if you’re able to take a walk, take a walk. If you can’t go outside at all, open your windows and let the sunshine in.Pray | Tolkien recommended ‘making a habit of the praises’ in a letter to his son, especially in times of distress. He also wrote, “It is also a good and admirable thing to know by heart the Canon of the Mass, for you can say this in your heart if ever hard circumstances keep you from hearing Mass..." which feels very applicable as all public Masses in the US are currently suspended. The prayers Tolkien recommended can be found at www.teawithtolkien.com/blog/prayers.Be Creative | Spend some time sitting with your own thoughts and then create something! Pick up a notebook and journal, write poetry, paint, or draw. I’ve noticed a lot of artists I follow on Instagram have been teaching mini courses in their instagram stories, and there is an abundance of free information on YouTube as well. Doing something creative can help relieve the stress you’re feeling so I really do recommend giving it a try even if you don’t feel like a “creative” person.Write a Letter | Tolkien writes in the prologue to The Lord of the Rings, “By no means all Hobbits were lettered, but those who were wrote constantly to all their friends (and a selection of their relations) who lived further off than an afternoon’s walk.” Following their example, write a few letters to a few of your friends (and maybe just one to a relative).Cook | With more time at home and many restaurants and delivery services closed, now is the perfect time to learn your way around a kitchen if you don’t already. I know this is tricky because a lot of grocery stores are out of pantry staples like flour and such, but this is another opportunity to be creative. I’ll link to a few Hobbit-inspired food blog posts in the show notes: Food of the Shire, What Hobbits Like to Eat, The Feast Goes on and Ever On, and 7 Shire-Worthy Recipes for National Hobbit Day.)Bake Lembas |If you’re able to get your hands on a few cups of flour, bake a batch of Lembas! I have my own recipe on my blog -- you can find it by searching “Tea with Tolkien Lembas” But maybe just half a batch for now since it does make quite a bit.Become a Gardener | Depending on where you live, it may or may not be time to start planting! If it’s still a bit early, now is a good time to do your research and make your plans for your garden. Even if you don’t have a yard, you can start a little herb garden on your windowsill.Donate Items | While I won’t be dropping off my donations for at least a few weeks, I’ve started going through different areas of the house and bagging up items we don’t use or need anymore. I’m keeping all the bags in the basement until we can go drop them off later. Also, if you do have an excess of any items that people might be needing right now (like, I don’t know, TOILET PAPER?), donate those right away!Sit Beside the Fire and Think | Whether you light a big fire in your fireplace or simply light a few candles, take some time out of whatever else it is you’re doing (scrolling twitter and stressing out?) and read, think, pray, or write in the relaxing, warm glow of the firelight.Do something inconvenient for the sake of another | This really is at the heart of what it means to be a Hobbit. Throughout all of their tales, Hobbits go out of their way to support and care for one another. If you have an elderly neighbor or know someone who is struggling right now, ask them how you can help. And while you’re at it, call your grandparents!Obviously I’m not going to solve all of the world's problems with a podcast episode but I hope this brightened up your day and kinda helped get you thinking about ways to spend your time while stuck at home.If you liked these ideas, I wanted to recommend my eBook, Thirty Days in the Shire! It’s only $6 and serves as a guide for becoming more of a Hobbit at Heart over the next thirty days. You can learn more and order your copy at teawithtolkien.com/30days if you’re ready to slow down, simplify, and grow!Anyways, I’m so happy to be back talking to you all! I hope to have more episodes out for you soon, and if there’s anything you’d like to hear about please feel free to let me know on twitter or instagram @teawithtolkien. Have a lovely day!

Hi guys! I’m sure you’ve noticed we’ve taken a break from the podcast this past month but I wanted to pop back in with this short episode in which I was joined by Haleigh DeRocher of Sweet Sequels. Black Friday is literally upon us even though it’s only Thursday evening as I’m recording this, and Haleigh’s etsy shop is one of my favorite places to find unique bookish gifts and she’s running a lovely sale so be sure to check her shop out! And before we jump into the episode I wanted to remind you that the Tea with Tolkien pop up shop is only open for only TWO more days — we’ll close at the end of the day on November 30th! We’ve got our Hobbit at Heart hoodies and mugs and Christmasy totes and onesies and more, so check it out — I’ll leave the link in the show notes or you can just go to etsy.com/shop/teawithtolkien. We’re also running a Small Business Saturday / Black Friday sale so you can save $20 off orders of $100 or more with code FRIDAY20 or get 10% off your entire order with code SAVE10. So a little bit more about Haleigh. She’s a super talented artist who focuses on creating pieces inspired by her favorite books, so of course there are tons of references to Tolkien and C.S. Lewis as well as plenty of other authors in her shop. I’ve been following her on instagram for years now and I was so excited when she agreed to create the beautiful cover art for my Lord of the Rings companion journal and devotional, To Middle-Earth and Back Again. It turned out so well and since we had this connection, I wanted to talk to her for just a little bit about her art and such. I hope you’ll grab a cup of tea and enjoy this conversation!Haleigh’s Etsy Shop: Sweet Sequels Recommended Reading

This week, we are joined by Daniel Stewart to chat about living like a Hobbit, beekeeping, and our favorite bear-man Beorn! I learned a ton about beekeeping and I hope you will too!About this week’s guest:Daniel is a husband, father, beekeeper, whisky maker, and Tolkien fan. He lives in Waco, TX with his wife and four children. Links:GIMLI, GALADRIEL, AND GUADALUPE: AN IMAGE OF OUR LADY IN THE LADY OF LOTHLORIENTHE LAST RITES OF BOROMIRHaley’s book I mentioned: “The Grace of Enough” by Haley Stewart”Daniel’s TwitterDaniel’s Instagram

In this episode, we are joined for Tea by Father Dan Bedel! We talked about one of Tolkien’s lesser-known works, Leaf by Niggle, as well as Tolkien’s Catholic faith, Harry Potter, and the upcoming Lord of the Rings tv show being produced by Amazon.Tolkien writes that this story is “the only thing I have ever done which cost me absolutely no pains at all. Usually I compose only with great difficulty and endless rewriting. I woke up one morning (more than 2 years ago) with that odd thing virtually complete in my head. It took only a few hours to get down, and then copy out. I am not aware of ever ‘thinking’ of the story or composing it in the ordinary sense.” - Letter 98“I recollect nothing about the writing, except that I woke one morning with it in my head, scribbled it down -- and the printed form in the main hardly differs from the first hasty version at all. I find it still quite moving, when I reread it. It is not really or properly an ‘allegory’ so much as ‘mythical’. For Niggle is meant to be a real mixed-quality person and not an ‘allegory’ of any single vice or virtue…” - Letter 241

Today we’re talking about something near and dear to every hobbit’s heart, the history and art of smoking pipe-weed. Obviously I want to be clear that this is something to be enjoyed in moderation by adults, and I know for many smoking can become an addiction so I just want to note that we aren’t endorsing illicit use of pipe tobacco and if you are prone to addiction or are struggling with addiction, this might not be a good episode for you. But because it’s such an important aspect of Hobbit history and culture, I did think it would be fun to have a chat about it. Concerning Pipe-Weed, from the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings“There is another astonishing thing about Hobbits of old that must be mentioned, an astonishing habit: they imbibed or inhaled, through pipes of clay or wood, the smoke of the burning leaves of a herb, which they called pipe-weed or leaf, a variety probably of Nicotiana. A great deal of mystery surrounds the origin of this peculiar custom, or ‘art’ as the Hobbits preferred to call it. All that could be discovered about it in antiquity was put together by Meriadoc Brandybuck (later Master of Buckland), and since he and the tobacco of the Southfarthing play a part in the history that follows, his remarks in the introduction of this Herblore of the Shire may be quoted…” - Concerning Pipe-weedThe smoking of pipe-weed, writes Merry Brandybuck, “is the one art that we can certainly claim to be our own invention.” Today we’re chatting with one of our patreon supporters, Timothy Martin! If you’d like to support Tea with Tolkien, you can learn more about our mission and the rewards here. Highlights from this Week’s Conversation:Pipe-weed obviously means a lot to Hobbit culture as a whole, so I wonder if Tolkien loved it as much as they did? Do you know what kind of tobacco he preferred? Tolkien refers to the smoking of pipe-weed as an “art” in the prologue to The Lord of the Rings. I feel like this ties in so well with the idea of Enchantment, the magic of the elves, which Tolkien also describes as an art. In what ways do you see it as an art-form?You mentioned when we were talking before that you have built sort of an online community for Catholics who also enjoy smoking a pipe. What’s that been like and what fruit have you seen from that community? What was the inspiration for starting this community?The Catholic Pipe Smoker’s Den Facebook Group

“Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow, Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow. None has ever caught him yet, for Tom, he is the Master: His songs are stronger songs, and his feet are faster.” - The Fellowship of the RingThis week we’re joined by one of my favorite Twitter Priests! Father Chris Perrella is a priest from the diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, but he goes by Father Tom Bombadil online and when I was thinking up who I wanted to chat with for this episode, he was the first person I thought of!In this episode, we discussed different theories to the ultimately unanswerable question: Who is Tom Bombadil? I really truly love that Tolkien chose to leave Tom Bombadil as such a mystery, but there are a lot of different fan theories about who he truly is. Tom Bombadil TheoriesTom represents and un-fallen AdamTom is one of the MaiarTom is the embodiment of Arda, a Father Nature figureTom is the embodiment of the Music of the AinurIn this episode, we discussed these theories and which we felt were most likely. What do you think of these? Do you have any other Tom Bombadil theories?In the end, we can’t really truly know, but it’s one of those fun elements of studying Tolkien that I enjoy!To find Father Tom Bombadil (aka Father Chris) on Twitter, click here.

In this episode, I was joined by Father Anthony Sciarappa (twitter’s okayest priest) to talk about myth, magic, dragons, Harry Potter, the priesthood, and more. This was such a fun interview and I hope you enjoy listening to Father Anthony’s perspective. Highlights from This Week’s Show There are really two types of magic in The Lord of the Rings: Enchantment and Magic, which we could also call the Machine. “Enchantment produces a Secondary World into which both designer and spectator can enter, to the satisfaction of their senses while they are inside; but in its purity it is artistic in desire and purpose. Magic produces, or pretends to produce, an alteration in the Primary World....it is not an art but a technique; its desire is power in this world, domination of things and wills.” - JRR Tolkien, On Fairy Stories This distinction is something we can see especially well when looking at both Gandalf and Saruman. Saruman seeks dominion over all others—working to manipulate them for the purposes of his own will; Gandalf seeks to guide others— working for the good and freedom of all.  Tolkien often gets lumped in with Harry Potter or even Disney and such in terms of being banned by well-meaning religious parents because they see the word ‘wizard’  or ‘magic’ and it stresses them out, so I think it’s important to help people understand how Tolkien’s is different in that sense.

Because our book club is beginning our read-along of The Silmarillion in a little less than two weeks (September 9th), I wanted to have my friend John Carswell on the show to chat about The Silmarillion as well as tips and resources for those of you who might be reading this masterpiece for the first time. John is the co-host of the first Tolkien podcast I ever got really into, The Tolkien Road, as well as the author of two books on The Silmarillion -- Tolkien’s Requiem and Tolkien’s Overture. Both of these have been incredibly helpful for me personally in the past few years as I read The Silmarillion for the first and second time. I’ll add links to both in the show notes so you can order copies for yourself. I also wanted to let you all know that if you do want to join in on the book club, there’s still time to grab your copy of The Silmarillion and get ready. We will begin discussing Ainulindalë on September 9th in our free Discord server -- if you’re unfamiliar with Discord, it’s basically a group chat so you can jump into the discussion whenever you’re able throughout the week. If you’d like to download our Silmarillion reading schedule and get the link to our Discord server, you can sign up using your email address at www.teawithtolkien.com/silmarillion. And if you’re listening to this episode way in the future, you can go to www.teawithtolkien.com/book-club to see what we’re reading next. Mentioned in this Week’s DiscussionCat Lady VideoThe Tolkien Road PodcastThe SilmarillionBook ClubTea with Tolkien on PatreonRecommended Reading

Find the show notes at www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/16

All of the show notes for this episode are available at www.teawithtolkien.com/podcast/15

Pull up a cozy chair and join us as we chat about the works and Catholic faith of J.R.R. Tolkien! I hope this podcast encourages you to carry a little piece of Middle-Earth into your own life as we grow together in hobbitness and holiness. Thanks so much for listening!‘How do I feel?’ he cried. ‘Well, I don’t know how to say it. I feel, I feel’ — he waved his arms in the air — ‘I feel like spring after winter, and sun on the leaves; and like trumpets and harps and all the songs I have ever heard!’If you listened to our Tolkien Reading Day episode yesterday, this is one of my favorite Tolkien quotes that I had mentioned. And today I wanted to talk a bit more about it and Spring in general, particularly because last week marked the beginning of Spring for us and because March 25th is of course the day on which the Ring was destroyed as well as the Feast of the Annunciation.Spring represents or calls to mind images of hope, new life, a fresh start, the light after dark, warmth after the cold, cleansing rains, a gentleness after the harshness of winter. It is soft, and joyful, a season to be celebrated. Tolkien was a lover of myth and symbol and the natural rhythms of the seasons, and the way The Lord of the Rings flows is a testament to that.Tolkien writes in Letter 210, “Seasons are carefully regarded… They are pictoral, and should be, and easily could be, made the main means by which the artists indicate time-passage. The main action begins in autumn and passes through winter to a brilliant spring: this is basic to the purport and tone of the tale.”Tolkien, being a devoted Catholic, lived in line with the Church’s liturgical calendar. To Catholics, Spring is closely associated with Easter: the Resurrection, which Tolkien called the Greatest Eucatastrophe.In Letter 89 he wrote, “The Resurrection was the greatest ‘eucatastrophe’ possible in the greatest Fairy Story — and produces that essential emotion: Christian joy which produces tears because it is qualitatively so like sorrow, because it comes from those places where Joy and Sorrow are at one, reconciled, as selfishness and altruism are lost in Love. Of course I do not mean that the Gospels tell what is only a fairy-story; but I do mean very strongly that they do tell a fairy-story: the greatest. Man the storyteller would have to be redeemed in a manner consonant with his nature: by a moving story. But since the author of it is the supreme Artist and the Author of Reality, this one was also made to Be, to be true on the Primary Plane….”After death, comes life; after winter, comes spring. And we see this all over the place in his writings as they are so rooted in both physical actual time, as he had mentioned before, and in the symbolism of the seasons. Both Bilbo and Frodo leave Bag end right at the beginning of Autumn, and the Ring is destroyed right at the beginning of Spring…

Pull up a cozy chair and join us as we chat about the works and Catholic faith of J.R.R. Tolkien, and strive to carry a little piece of Middle-Earth into our own daily lives.Tolkien Reading Day is celebrated on the 25th of March every year, in honor of the day on which the One Ring was destroyed. Since 2003, the Tolkien Society has celebrated this day by encouraging fans to read and share their favorite Tolkien passages, so I wanted to share five of mine. Share yours on social media using the #TolkienReadingDay hashtag, and tag me so I can see, too!I chose all of these from The Lord of the Rings, perhaps because it's most familiar to me of all Tolkien’s works, but also because it has had the biggest influence on my life and has meant the most to me. The more I read the Silmarillion, the more I fall in love with its depth, but I’m still not as familiar with it to be able to choose my favorite specific passages or chapters. So all of these are from The Lord of the Rings, and I didn’t realize this until now, but all of them are from The Return of the King at that.This first one is from Book Six, Chapter One. After he believed Frodo to be dead, Sam took the Ring and determined to finish Frodo’s quest for him. However, he learned that Frodo was not actually dead, and he had been taken by orcs and carried away. So Sam is following them now in an attempt to rescue him, but already he is being tempted by the Ring.“In that hour of trial it was the love of his master that helped most to hold him firm; but also deep down in him lived still unconquered his plain hobbit-sense: he knew in the core of his heart that he was not large enough to bear such a burden, even if such visions were not a mere cheat to betray him. The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command.” - The Return of the King, The Tower of Cirith UngolSam is strengthened by his realized, and continues on. After climbing to the top of the stairs in the Tower of Cirith Ungol and being unable to find Frodo, Sam sinks down and bows his head. However, he then begins to sing:In western lands beneath the Sunthe flowers may rise in Spring,the trees may bud, the waters run,the merry finches sing.Or there maybe 'tis cloudless nightand swaying beeches bearthe Elven-stars as jewels whiteamid their branching hair.Though here at journey's end I liein darkness buried deep,beyond all towers strong and high,beyond all mountains steep,above all shadows rides the Sunand Stars for ever dwell:I will not say the Day is done,nor bid the Stars farewell.Sam’s song draws the attention of an orc, thinking he’s hearing Frodo. The orc uses a ladder to access the final chamber above, and with that Sam is able to follow the orc up and rescue Frodo.In the next chapter, The Land of Shadow, Frodo and Sam scramble through Mordor, trying desperately to finish their quest. At one point, they find a place to hide and Sam tells Frodo to sleep while he keeps watch.“Then at last, to keep himself awake, he crawled from the hiding-place and looked out. The land seemed full of creaking and cracking and sly noises, but there was no sound of voice or foot. Far above the Ephel Duath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”After the Ring is ultimately destroyed, Frodo and Sam awake to find themselves in the Field of Cormallen. Aragorn is king; Gandalf is returned.; the Ring is gone. All is right with the world once again.“‘Well, Master Samwise, how do you feel?’ he said.But Sam lay back, and stared with open mouth, and for a moment, between bewilderment and great joy, he could not answer. At last he gasped: ‘Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What’s happening to the world?"‘A great Shadow has departed,’ said Gandalf, and then he laughed, and the sound was like music, or like water in a parched land; and as he listened the thought came to Sam that he had not heard laughter, the pure sound of merriment, for days upon days without count. It fell upon his ears like the echo of all the joys he had ever known. But he himself burst into tears. Then, as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring and the sun will shine out the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laughter welled up, and laughing he sprang from his bed.‘How do I feel?’ he cried. ‘Well, I don’t know how to say it. I feel, I feel’ — he waved his arms in the air — ‘I feel like spring after winter, and sun on the leaves; and like trumpets and harps and all the songs I have ever heard!’Later on, as the hobbits are brought out before the host of men and met with great praise, Tolkien writes:“And all the host laughed and wept, and in the midst of their merriment and tears the clear voice of the minstrel rose like silver and gold, and all the men were hushed. And he sang to them, now in the elven-tongue, now in the speech of the West, until their hearts, wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in thought out to regions where pain and delight flow together and tears are the very wine of blessedness.”So these are five of my favorite passages from The Lord of the Rings, quotes that have pierced my own heart and hopefully they will resonate with you a little bit, or at least inspire you to read a little or a lot of Tolkien. I’d love to hear about your favorites in the comments below, or you can send me a note on twitter or facebook or instagram!Also, on a quick final note, today is the opening of our spring pop-up shop! I have a limited selection of some of our most popular items from when our Etsy shop was open and I’m very excited to be able to offer some of them again. It was such a challenge to run our busy Etsy shop while also staying at home with my little hobbits, and so I made the difficult decision to close last December. However, this pop-up shop will be open from today until April 5th! We have a beautiful new design made for Tea with Tolkien by Ash of Daffodils and Ink, as well as our Rose Bookstack tee, our enamel Hobbit at Heart campfire mug, and our Little Hobbit baby onesie.I also wanted to mention, if you’re on instagram, I’m hosting a giveaway in celebration of Tolkien Reading day this week. The giveaway will close on March 30th and 10pm EST, and I hope it’s you that wins! You can visit my instagram feed, @teawithtolkien, for all of the details and how to enter.I will be back tomorrow to talk about one of my favorite quotes that I had mentioned in this episode, Sam’s “I feel like spring after winter and sun on the leaves”, as well as a little discussion of the significance of Spring in Tolkien’s writings, so make sure you’re subscribed to the podcast so you won’t miss an episode.I hope you have a beautiful day, and make sure to read more Tolkien! And drink more tea, too!Also, here’s the link to my piece about March 25.

Pull up a cozy chair and join us as we chat about the works and Catholic faith of J.R.R. Tolkien as well as how we can carry Middle-Earth into our own daily lives.I’ve wanted to begin discussing some of Tolkien’s letters every so often and so today I thought we’d talk about Letter 213.If you don’t know what I’m talking about or why these letters have numbers, it’s because they’ve been compiled and published in this really lovely and insightful book called The Letters of JRR Tolkien, edited by Humphrey Carpenter. I’ll link to it in the show description, I highly highly recommend it…

This week, I’m joined once again by my husband Alex for tea and a little chat about Lent. I wanted to share some ways I’ve been inspired and encouraged by the journeys of Frodo and Sam and how I’m planning to carry some of these ideas along with me through Lent.