The Tolkien Road

Hey there, fellow travelers! Welcome to The Tolkien Road, episode 385!In this bonus episode of DO NOT BE HASTY, we’ll continue through the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings by exploring the sections “Concerning Pipe-weed” and “Of the Ordering of the Shire”!As we discovered in the last episode, the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings contains matters which don’t, at first, seem to matter much to the overall narrative arc of the story itself.However, for Tolkien, the background and details matter immensely. It’s why we wound up, for example, with a large volume of Tolkien’s notes concerning things like the aging process of Elves as well as the flora and fauna of Númenor.For Tolkien, Middle-earth became an increasingly REAL place. Not that he was crazy - instead, I’d say his creative process was informed by a strong mystical streak.While the titles of these sections may seem very dry, there are details herein which will serve to deepen our appreciation of the intricate narrative tapestry that Tolkien spent 15 year