36. Divine Background Radiation.

All about the Valar.

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Jared’s choice of topic: the Valar. For a
legendarium that is clearly monotheistic at base, down to the opening lines of
The Silmarillion essentially being a variant of the Book of Genesis, Tolkien’s
creation – and account of creation – has a class of similarly immortal beings
present from the beginning as well, and while you can call them a version of
angels, in many ways they are absolutely not like such beings as theologically
understood. Indeed, for all that they are termed as ‘the Powers’ in Arda, much
of what we know about them seems to derive from the limits of their power or
their inability to comprehend deeper truths – a question that Tolkien himself
felt needed explaining at a certain point. What does it say that Varda aka
Elbereth is regarded by the Elves with more reverence and love than her
partner Manwë? Why is it that beings with an essentially plastic form of
existence, not bound by physical form, take on certain specific forms and
identities even before the Children of Ilúvatar first awoke in Middle-earth?
Is there something to be said for the fact that so much of what the Valar do
over time turns more and more into outsourcing of a kind? What’s with the
moment of bemusing domestic snark between Aüle and Yavanna like it’s a sitcom?
And – separate from all this, but it took up half the episode – what do the
three of us think about all the news and trailer and more about a certain
Amazon series that finally dropped? Oh, we have thoughts…

Jared’s
doodle.
Nienna really does have a lot to feel sad about the more time goes on…

Thanks, Princess
Quill!

The teaser trailer for The
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, if for some odd reason you haven’t seen
it yet. (The initial Jackson Fellowship of the Ring teaser
trailer if you’d like to
compare, plus the overall three movie
teaser.)

The various character posters are kinda scattered over the LOTR on
Prime Twitter account.

Not one, not
two, but
three Vanity Fair stories! They say…a lot. And
yet.

The Origo Gentis
Langobardorum, with
the women-with-beards story.

The new news about the anime The Lord of the
Rings: The War of the Rohirrim film.

TheOneRing.net’s
case for the mûmakil hanging around in Rohan.

The initial Variety report and follow-up regarding the rumored plan of Saul Zaentz’s company
selling their adaptation rights.

Our episode on the Rankin-Bass
Hobbit, if you missed it last
year!

The Valar, in sum.

Our The Nature of Middle-earth
episode. The book really does give
us a lot more to think about the Valar. (Separately, regarding Manwë’s
emissaries, our eagles episode.)

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