The Sillymarillion Ep 04 - The Black Gate Opens (J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion)

Andrew (0:02)

This is a HeadGum Podcast.

Craig (0:05)

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Andrew (0:42)

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Craig (1:00)

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Welcome to The Sillymarillion, a podcast from the boys at Overdue, the podcast about the books you've been meaning to read. My name is Craig.

Andrew (2:34)

Yeah, I'm Andrew.

Craig (2:35)

Sorry, Sauron showed up there for a second, and he had some words to say. I did my best translation of them as he spoke through me with his magic.

Andrew (2:46)

Yeah, sure, the mouth of Sauron over there.

Craig (2:49)

Yes, that's what they call me in the podcasting biz, the mouth of Sauron.

Andrew (2:56)

He would have a bad podcast, the mouth of Sauron.

Craig (2:58)

Oh my god, can you imagine if that tower is just a broadcast tower going all over Middle-Earth? Oh my god.

Andrew (3:08)

I'm not sure. He would probably be prominent in the right-wing podcast, Manospheres. So let's just leave it at that.

Craig (3:17)

I think the metaphor of the Eye of Sauron and online brigading, people have made that comparison, have used that metaphor before.

Andrew (3:27)

Sure, yes.

Craig (3:27)

So yes, I think him being a bit of a paleo nut job, perhaps. Well, people got to eat with the die, they got to eat. But sometimes you go too far and the algorithm serves you up something that.

Listen, there's some stuff in this episode that we're going to talk about that is basically fake news. There's fake news in these chapters.

Andrew (3:48)

It's also kind of a Sauron-heavy stretch. Yeah, it is. He gets a chance to stretch his legs in this.

Craig (3:55)

He really does, works the room a little bit. So welcome to our bespoke-

Andrew (3:59)

Turns into a big werewolf.

Craig (4:01)

For reasons that are very specific.

Our bespoke JRR. Tolkien podcast, where we are talking about the Silmarillion, a legendarium of sorts about Middle-Earth. And we are now in episode four, Andrew, where we are covering several chapters of the Quenta Silmarillion, is that what it's called?

Andrew (4:27)

Yep, and that's the main body of the book.

Craig (4:31)

Great. We are going to be reading and discussing what we did read. We're going to discuss chapters 17 through 20

Let me give you the titles and then we'll do a quick last time on Of the Coming of Men into the West, Of the Ruin of Beleriand, And the Fall of Fingolfin, Of Beren and Luthien, Of the Fifth Battle, Nierniath, Arnodead, Arnoodead.

Andrew (5:04)

It's simultaneously super important and not important. You know what? Stuff is called in this book. Like in the Beren and Luthien chapter, I feel like every three paragraphs you get, and then Beren was thereafter called whatever, whatever. Yeah.

Maybe it's mentioned one other time, but it's not important that you have 100 names. It's just one of the things Tolkien does that creates an impression of depth.