Greetings! Thank you so much; I'm hoping to put out a new video quite soon too!

@@ChrisReadsTolkien Btw I'm giving you a shoutout with link to your channel, in a LotR-fanfiction I am writing. Hope you don't mind :)

@@Uberdude6666 That's very kind of you - I don't mind at all! Thanks for asking!

Thank you - glad you like it!

Welcome back! I am well, thank you! - just very busy of late. I hope you're doing well too!

@@ChrisReadsTolkien I am. Thank you for asking. Part 2, tonight😊

You're welcome! <3

Thank you kindly! 🙏

You're welcome! Thanks for the comment; I'm glad to know it was helpful.

@@ChrisReadsTolkien Very helpful! I’m going through a Tolkien binge so I’m glad to have your videos to watch.

Well said! I wholeheartedly agree!

My pleasure - thanks for listening :)

Thank you kindly!

Mine too -absolutely!

You're very welcome!

I just checked and it seems to be working, although it did stop/pause after one second for some reason, but after pressing play again it seemingly works again the rest of the way. Perhaps it's just temporary issue. Thanks for letting me know!

"Our books, must stay with us." RIIIIGHT?!

There are few theories out there. I personally think Tom is either a physical incarnation of Eru Illúvatar, or may be another creation thereof. I actually don't feel that Tom is any of the Valar. Goldberry could be a Maia, but it seem more likely she is a spirit of nature like Caradhras. Great question; I love pondering this sort of LOTR lore!

@@ChrisReadsTolkien damn lol maybe some more explanation: “Irmo the younger is the master of visions and dreams. In Lórien are his gardens in the land of the Valar, and they are the fairest of all places in the world, filled with many spirits. Estë the gentle, healer of hurts and of weariness, is his spouse. Grey is her raiment; and rest is her gift. She walks not by day, but sleeps upon an island in the tree-shadowed lake of Lórellin. From the fountains of Irmo and Estë all those who dwell in Valinor draw refreshment; and often the Valar come themselves to Lórien and there find repose and easing of the burden of Arda.” Does that not sound rather applicable to the Old Forest, Tom and Goldberry? 😏

​@@David.Bowman. I can appreciate where you're coming from, but I do not see this quote as evidence to support the notion those characters are thusly related. I don't know if you are aware that I read the The Silmarillion here on my channel; I've read it many times along with Unfinished Tales, 12.V History of Middle-Earth and Tolkien's Letters and generally have studied these works for the last fifteen years. Tolkien remarked on his making Tom Bombadil deliberately mysterious on a few occasions, e.g. "I like things worked out in detail myself, and answers provided to all reasonable questions. [...] There is of course a clash between ‘literary’ technique, and the fascination of elaborating in detail an imaginary mythical Age [...]. As a story, I think it is good that there should be a lot of things unexplained (especially if an explanation actually exists) [...]. And even in a mythical Age there must be some enigmas, as there always are. Tom Bombadil is one (intentionally). (Letters 174, #144)". So, while all anyone can do is guess, there are many fun clues, but it is all still hearsay, and since you asked my opinion, I gave it. The quote you gave is a great one, but if you're looking for hints about who Tom Bombadil and Goldberry could be, we should consider when Frodo asks Goldberry who Tom is: 'Fair lady!' said Frodo again after a while. "Tell me, if my asking does not seem foolish, who is Tom Bombadil?" 'He is,' said Goldberry, staying her swift movements and smiling. Frodo looked at her questioningly. 'He is, as you have seen him,' she said in answer to his look. (In the House of Tom Bombadil, ch.7 bk. The Fellowship of the Ring) This is as close as Tolkien comes to telling us who Tom is. That language, "He is," is very evocative to the divine, in this case Eru Illúvatar, e.g. And God said unto Moses, “I Am That I Am.” Tolkien being a strict Catholic and erudite in world religions was well aware of his use of language here. In terms of Goldberry, she is referred to as the "River-woman's daughter" in The Fellowship of the Ring. While I don't personally subscribe to it, it has been suggested that Goldberry may be Yavanna, and that her husband Aulë is Tom. I don't believe Tolkien intended that connection to be made either, however it would at least make more sense in terms of Goldberry being Yavanna, but she appears to be a river spirit more than anything. You should consider reading The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verse from the Redbook - there's more information about both Tom and Goldberry; I also read it on my channel. kzbin.info/aero/PLF-dDF0grGe5ElVJwqQ-0OCisukprmMuE en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldberry Tolkien, J., Lewis, C., Williams, C., & Literature, M. (n.d.). Number 2 Article 6. 38(2), 6. Retrieved December 14, 2023, from dc.swosu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2896&context=mythlore

Hmm yes, it is maybe too vague to pin them down with that quote alone. I’ve done a lot of other thinking but it tends to be a bit cryptic like a crossword and - exactly like a crossword - I’d need another answer to a different question for both answers to make sense. I’m spending alot of time looking at the Welsh/English border to follow the Hobbits journey for example. It’s difficult but there must be connections between place names like “Crickhollow/Crickhowell”, “Bree/Brecon”, “Withywindle/River Wye” and some others. I forget as soon as I think of them though! Anyway, thanks for your feedback. I’ll be dropping back for regular listening and if I think of anything more solid I’ll pick your brains some more!

I quite agree! It isn't just the beginning of the Fellowship, but the synthesis of all the elements coming together; it's hard to put into words - like a different kind of epic.

@@ChrisReadsTolkien oh yea. It's very interesting how most of the fundamentals of the story are basically set here. I remember that the first time I read, a lot of the questions I had were answered in those chapters.

Glad you enjoyed it!

🙏my pleasure

Thank you, I really appreciate that!

Nice. Someone really needs to cover the song properly.

It’s my pleasure - glad you like them!

I hadn't realized there was such a community surrounding this tale, so I was glad to find its slightly less obscure than I thought.

@@ChrisReadsTolkien a lot of summary videos exist about unfinished tales. Not a lot of people have the books, I think.

Thank you!

I know what you mean. For a while, I found it hard to not overanalyze Frodo or overly compare him to the film version.

I really appreciate that, thank you!

The troll poem? That Sam's quite a jokester, ain' he?

@@PleaseNThankYou I'd thought Bilbo was meant to have written it - completely forgot until I re-read this chapter.

@ChrisCarlinReads I too, always find treasures where I least expect them, but usually right where I left them 😆

I was trying to find it, as I had no idea until now, but came across a video someone made adapting the poem: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGnZgJ2be6eIppY

I completely agree. This chapter is definitely a turning point; I love spending all that time in the Shire with their travels and adventures leading up to it.

Thank you! It really is quite the treasure trove.

Thank you very much!

Thank you!

Great question! Whenever I come across a word I'm unfamiliar with and/or unsure how to pronounce I look it up as I'm recording; this recently happened with the word "eyot." When I came across "sigaldry" I didn't see anything about pronunciation at the time. I did just find this quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionary/dictionary/MED40232 ; but even had I found it at the time, I'm unfamiliar with the special type of diacritic found there. I actually do have a familiarity with diactrics, but I'd never seen that one before. As I've delved deeper, thanks to your question, I discovered that, sigaldry, is a very obscure Middle English word that Tolkien apparently discovered from a 12th century manuscript. I found this interesting article* about Tolkien's use of the word; I'll link it below - you should check it out. Yet still, none of this gives me a sense of how the 'g' should sound, especially given its being an effectively extinct Middle English word. At the time, not knowing the definition and going off of context and the word 'sigil,' I thought perhaps there could be a relationship, since I guessed it was some olde English, as Tolkien was want to use, but had no idea just how obscure this word was, even for him. Thanks again for the great question; I really learned a lot trying to answer it! * middle-earth.xenite.org/and-now-for-the-rest-of-the-poem/

Thank you, I really appreciate that!

You're welcome!

I hope your arm isn't really broken like Éowyn.

@Chris Carlin broke. The radius bone, right arm. I'll be distracting myself with your storytelling, and maybe a painting in real time by the friend of Elves and Men, Timbo Took, from the Shire of Florida, USA.

@@PleaseNThankYou I'm sorry about that; I hope it heals swiftly.

@@ChrisReadsTolkien Thank you 😊

You're very welcome!

Thank you!

Glad you found it!

Thank you!