Tolkien Professor
@tolkienprof
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Corey Olsen, President of Signum University (@SignumU) and scholar of J.R.R. Tolkien
New Hampshire
Joined June 2009
I’ve just recently heard that Christopher Tolkien has died. So ends the watch of a man who without question fulfilled his quest. A more faithful and diligent steward of Middle-earth no one could have asked for. We owe him a tremendous and incalculable debt. RIP.
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Top three things I hope are not true in the RoP:.1. Durin's Bane emerges during the show.2. Halbrand is Sauron.3. The Stranger is Gandalf (Team Blue Wizard!).None will be deal breakers for me, but I'll be disappointed.
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I have seen the first two episodes of #TheRingsOfPower, and I can’t say much yet, but I will say this: I REALLY enjoyed them, and I am very much looking forward to talking about this show for the next five years. At least! @LOTRonPrime @PrimeVideo.
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Last week, I was invited by the @LOTRonPrime folks, along with a bunch of other internet Tolkien folks, to attend an advanced screening of some footage from the #RingsofPower show and to meet the showrunners. I must say: after meeting them, I feel the show is in VERY good hands.
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A clarification on dwarf women. Tolkien says that they look just like dwarf men. He also clarifies later, concerning beards (Nature of Middle-earth, p 187, footnote), that "All _male_ dwarves had them." Tolkien (late in life) explicitly did NOT imagine dwarf women as bearded.
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I'm saddened to hear that Priscilla Tolkien, JRR's last surviving child, has just recently died. RIP to the woman whose impact on Tolkien's life has been, I suspect, underestimated.
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Had a great conversation about Elrond and his history with Robert Aramayo.
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If you haven't watched #Episode4 of #TheRingsOfPower yet . do that. Do that soon. There is so much to talk about! @LOTRonPrime.
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When I first read The Hobbit, I was not sure what “red-gold” meant when applied to Smaug’s color. My juvenile experience hadn’t supplied a clear model for the combination of red and gold. Then I moved to NH, and the fall foliage helped me with that.
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Hey folks! I am thinking about hosting a new series of broadcasts where we can have some civil and friendly conversations about adaptation in general, Tolkien adaptation issues in particular, and @LOTRonPrime questions and issues more specifically. Interested?.
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Had a good talk about Galadriel and her choices with Morfydd Clark.
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Yes, I can indeed officially confirm that I am consulting on this game. Building a Fourth Age story is a fascinating project, and I am really impressed with the team’s work so far! I think this game will be great fun.
We’re excited to announce The Lord of the Rings™: Return to Moria™ as part of the Epic Games #SummerShowcase! Check out our official announcement trailer below!.#ReturnToMoria #SummerGameFest #LOTRReturnToMoria #TheLordoftheRings.
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The first trailer for @TheRingsofPower Season 2 at last! And it’s Annatar-focused, which I’m glad to see. The words “he’s been among us all the time” were particularly sweet to my ears.
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YOU FOUND THEM!!.
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Okay! I need to see it about a dozen more times, but I like the look. Really looking forward to young and scrappy Galadriel.
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Theory: the dude in the foreground is Earendil, right? If this Tirion, that would explain the solo guy looking at it, and the fact no one else is visible.
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I am excited to announce that I am indeed attending the NYC premier of The #RingsOfPower tonight! @MaggieParke and I will be taking notes…
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Today, after school, my 9-year-old son got in the car and said: “Tell me the story of Beren and Lúthien!” We were still in the middle of it when we got to my teenager’s school, and at the end he said: “The Silmarillion sounds kinda cool.” It was a good day.
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Okay! So I just spent a really exciting three hours. I just had lunch with the whole cast of the Rings of Power show. Had some excellent Tolkien conversations. #SDCC2022.
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Trystan Gravelle (Pharazon) was great. He’s also on my short list of folks I’d love to get on OMH. He has gotten me really interested in the arc the show is going to give to Pharazon, which I think is going to be very thoughtful. I am now calling him the One-Man Fall of Numenor.
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This is just awesome, @DonMarshall72! Great to see the support from @BillyBoydActor, @elijahwood, @DomsWildThings, and @SeanAstin !.
The Hobbits are wearing our merchandise!.I am beyond words. Thank you so much. Thank you @WizardWayKris for the elvish translation of "You all are welcome here". You can get your own t-shit, hoodie, sticker and much here:.
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Funny moment from #SDCC on Sunday. A Tolkien fan asked me to sign her copy of the Silmarillion, which looked old. Then I noticed it was a first American edition!😳 She had no idea. I signed her con badge instead!.
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And I had a long and in-depth conversation with Lloyd Owen about Elendil. He was FULL of questions; awesome conversation.
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We are in the market for a dog, and my wife wants to get a Maltese. She was looking for images to show our sons what the breed looks like, and this led inevitably to the following work of art:
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To the Professor! 🍺 Here’s to Tolkien’s 130th birthday, and the anticipation of a particularly exciting year of Tolkien festivities to come!.
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I am recording an episode of the @FriendshipOnion podcast right now, with @BillyBoydActor and @DomsWildThings. Really fun conversation!.
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Ho! Tom Bombadil! Tom Bombadillo! This is definitely going to be interesting!.
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Look which booth my son and I found at PAX East! Loving the Second Edition so far. If you like RPG and Tolkien, you owe it to yourself to try this out. The One Ring RPG is really outstanding.
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Advice to George RR Martin: maybe consider doing less smack-talking against Tolkien and more writing. Finishing big writing projects was one of the things Tolkien was worst at — but he was apparently better even at that than you are.
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All right! Apologies for being a bit slow with my reaction today. Here’s a short reactions thread — more sooner or later.
A new age begins September 2, 2022. Journey to Middle-earth with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. #LOTRonPrime #LOTR #LOTRROP
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Okay, I can’t hold back. I am currently at the DMV, but when I get home, I’m going to jump online so we can discuss this. I’ll be live here on Twitter, as well as elsewhere. 5ish PM ET.
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It’s so much fun to be back in the studio doing Rings & Realms.
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It was also a special pleasure to meet @helenshang, one of the writers of the show. She’s also a long-time listener, and talked about how the writers often used my podcast as a resource. Very flattering.
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I’m settled into my seat in a theatre in Salem, NH, ready to watch the first two episodes of #TheRingsOfPower again! This time, so I can take notes… 📝.
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Interesting to hear Neil say this. I agree!.
@Firststar13Luce @JimVaiknoras @Firannion @LOTRonPrime It felt very faithful to Tolkien. You’ll need to see it and make up your own mind.
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Pharazôn and I just wrapped Episode 4 of @ringsandrealms! The patient folks at @StudioLabNH are threatening to split it into two halves because I talked for so long this week, but the plan is for them to drop Tuesday night!
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Delighted to make the official announcement! @MaggieParke and I will be interviewing Benjamin Walker this Friday at 12 PM ET on Twitter Spaces. Follow this account for the link to the conversation tomorrow! @LOTRonPrime #TheRingsofPower
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Delighted to hear the Amazon news is official today! And I too am wondering if HarperCollins and the Estate’s involvement suggests expanded text rights. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Silmarillion, but it could mean Unfinished Tales and other material hitherto off limits.
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Hey folks! Want to talk about the Amazon LOTR series synopsis? I’m thinking of doing a quick live stream in about an hour. Let’s talk it over!.
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It's official! Tomorrow I launch my new broadcast, Other Minds and Hands, with @MaggieParke. This will be a friendly place for Tolkien fans to bring questions, speculations, and fears about Tolkien adaptations. Wed Feb 23, 4 PM ET on and Signum's YouTube.
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Wow. This video has so much more than the teaser trailer! There is a lot here to digest. Spoiler alert: Isildur survives the end of season 1, it turns out.
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Today at Noon ET, join me and @MaggieParke for a conversation with Cynthia Addai-Robinson, fresh from watching her stunning performance as Queen Regent Miriel in Episode 4 of #TheRingsOfPower. Catch our reactions here on Twitter Spaces! @LOTRonPrime @PrimeVideo.
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Join me and @MaggieParke for quick thoughts and reactions to Episodes 1 and 2 today at 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT. #TheRingsOfPower @LOTRonPrime @PrimeVideo.
Join us every Friday at 9am PT for a #TheRingsOfPower Twitter Spaces conversation with @tolkienprof and @MaggieParke. #WatchTheRingsOfPower
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I am delighted to report that @SignumU was approved by a unanimous vote of the New Hampshire Higher Education Commission today. I even got a chance to go on record praising the unflagging support of all of you who have been so essential to making this all possible. Thank you!.
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Saturday 2/11 at 1 PM ET, I'll be hosting a special broadcast at which I will discuss Hope in Tolkien and raise money to help the relief efforts in Turkey. I'll be joined by folks from @OrtaDunyaCom and other special guests. Join at or @SignumU's YT.
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Many thanks to @StephenAtHome for his kind shoutout today! Maybe I can talk him into joining us for Exploring the Lord of the Rings one of these days.
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@TBrohman15 @nerdoftherings1 @mellon_heads I hear you, and this is important, but be careful. As soon as we start saying “there is no room for” certain people, we become ourselves a part of the intolerance problem. Let’s keep Tolkien fandom a positive and loving place by talking these out with patience and kindness.
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However, Despite the gentle encouragement of the security dudes to move along, I had to stop and chat for a while with Robert Aramayo (Elrond), of course. Delightfully, the biggest Tolkien nerd on the cast.
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Everyone’s been asking me what I think of the @AmazonStudios Lord of the Rings news. I love the idea! Doing a long episodic depiction of the LOTR story is obviously superior to feature film. Glad to hear this might happen. Would I work with them on it? In a heartbeat!.
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Last night / this morning I recorded a fun, meaty discussion with IGN, an “Expert Reacts” video on the @LOTRonPrime trailer. Should be out soon, I think.
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Ah! Looks like I am going to get a second chance to meet the cast. Neat! Looking forward to filling some gaps.
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So, is there anything in particular you’d like to hear from me talk about in our reaction show? #TheRingsOfPower.
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A note on the Smooch issue. I wanted to address this early, so we can get on to the analysis of ep 7 without this oliphaunt in the room.
What's this? A special video! Call it. a gift. 🎁 💍.Or call it "Of the Rings of Power and the Smooching Age". 💋💋.
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Sitting in Hall H, surrounded by celebrities (as you can see), preparing to do my homework for Other Minds and Hands next week! @primevideo @theringsofpower.#PrimeVideoCreator #TheRingsofPower
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Solved it!.
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Rings and Realms is out!.
Episode 1 and 2 of Rings and Realms is live!. @SignumU | @StudioLabNH | @mythgardian | @tolkienprof | @LOTRonPrime | @MaggieParke. #ringsandrealms #LOTRROP #TheRingsOfPower #LOTR.
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There are many ways to measure success as a teacher of Tolkien. “Total number of former students who get an ‘Aurë Entuluva’ tattoo after taking your class” is probably my favorite metric.
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I would give this simple invitation: look at the abusive tweets I was getting from the race-based RoP haters last Friday. Then look at the abusive tweets I've just this evening been getting from those who claim to oppose racism and bigotry. Identical. Surely, that shouldn't be.
@retroreticent Here’s my only challenge to you: By all means oppose bigitry and hatred, but do it without becoming yourself guilty of the same things. That’s all. Too many people yelling at bigoted trolls are acting exactly like bigoted trolls. You cannot defeat hatred by hating people.
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It’s my birthday, and I am on vacation with my family in lovely old-city Quebec. My family found the perfect place to take me for second breakfast! (It’s understated: look closely at the name in the window.)
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@El_pana86 @LOTRonPrime Trust me — this is absolutely untrue. Completely. The makers of this show know and get Tolkien and are completely passionate about it. I met them, talked to them, and asked them questions. Their answers surpassed my wildest expectations of their fandom.
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My copy of The Nature of Middle-earth arrived today! Did yours? Read up, because on Bilbo’s Birthday, September 22, I am going to begin an in-depth, chapter-by-chapter discussion of the new book, through the @mythgardian Academy! Further details coming soon!.
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It’s happening! @ringsandrealms episode 1 is dropping imminently on YouTube. And now … back to filming Episode 2!.
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The production team just told me that @ringsandrealms is probably going to drop a day earlier this week! Look for it on Tuesday.
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@BasementTTV It means they would have accelerated the downfall of Khazad-dum by several millennia (in book time it happens in 1980 of the Third Age), which both shuts down future storylines for K-d and also confuses the chronology for Erebor. I can live with it, but I'd rather not.
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We have officially launched our Kickstarter for @ringsandrealms Season 2! Help us make Season 2 even cooler than last time, and you can get involved backstage, or even on stage! Back us at
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If you haven't seen the 60-minute Silmarillion, you owe it to yourself. Sauron rap battle? Gilbert and Sullivan Valaquenta? You know you need that in your life. These folks did a great job, and the panel features Marie, the coordinator of our whole #SilmFilm team!.
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Hey there, @Nerdrotics. I hear you are at SDCC! I’d be interested to meet up and talk Tolkien for a bit, if you were interested. Send me a DM, and we can meet up.
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I’m on vacation with my wife, so I won’t be able to hold long video discussions of the trailer anytime soon, but I can give some thoughts!.
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Today I learned that LM Montgomery’s gravesite is a Pokestop. So at that spot, mundane reality is overlaid with imagined wonder and teeming with fantastic creatures. I think Anne Shirley might approve, actually.
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A Special Emergency "The Trees are in the Amazon Show!?" Livestream
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Thanks for the shout-out, @StephenAtHome! Great to know that you are taking the ExLOTR journey with us. The funny thing is that the NYT fact-checker actually reached out to me because they thought he might be exaggerating about the length of the class!
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What a whirlwind afternoon! In between the Twitter and Twitch shows I participated in, I filmed a long segment of @ringsandrealms. Very satisfying to work through some of my thoughts on the themes of the first two episodes. #TheRingsOfPower @LOTRonPrime.
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My first SDCC panel! Going to be a great time.
The Middle-earth events aren't over yet at #SDCC. We have our second panel at 1.30pm Sunday, Room 6A; we'll be taking a deep dive into the lore of the 2nd Age. Join us and @tolkienprof to brush up and be ready to watch #TheRingsOfPower this Fall! @LOTRonPrime
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Haha. What was that, 2014? Perhaps this will reassure people who think I’m just being some kind of Amazon shill. I literally HAVE been saying this about Galadriel for most of a decade.
Conspicuous quote from @tolkienprof during Unfinished Tales lecture #6: "I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that in the third Hobbit film we are going to see Galadriel in physical combat. [Would that we had, Corey!] And I'm going to go out on another limb. " 1/?.
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Oh man. I have to wait until the NEXT commercial break? You’re killing me.
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Hey, is it almost time for Exploring the Lord of the Rings again? Feels like forever! What chapter are we discussing again?.
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Also had a great conversation with Daniel Weyman, who plays The Stranger (aka Meteor Man). His experience was really interesting. No picture for that one; I didn’t catch him at photo time.
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Have you heard I am starting a new long-term, chapter-by-chapter discussion of the Lord of the Rings, beginning on Tolkien's birthday?.
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I spoke briefly to Benjamin Walker (Gil-Galad) and (sadly) more briefly to Charles Edwards (Celebrimbor), with whom Id love to talk more. But I had a nice chat with Charlie Vickers (Halbrand), who is a big Other Minds and Hands fan, it turns out.
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This week, @MaggieParke and I will be hosting a special episode of Other Minds and Hands in which we will be interviewing Bear McCreary, composer of the score of @LOTRonPrime. We will be meeting early, at 11 AM ET, on Thursday Nov 10, on our ususal @SignumU channels.
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Ooh! I just found out whom we are going to get to interview this Friday on our reaction show. I’m going to have to be vigilant about my pronunciation….
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This is going to be a fun conversation! There’s a lot to be excited about in this game!.
Very excited to announce that I'll be hosting a roundtable for the new LOTR video game @ReturnToMoria in one week on Durin's Day! Feat. the team of @FreeRangeGames & @tolkienprof , we will talk about the game & reveal new concept art and stills!. LINK>>>
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@BoarofEverholt @EdwardarkVic @vagrant_chocobo @nerdoftherings1 It is true. I can’t reveal much more, because it isn’t my story to tell, but it is definitely untrue that Shippey left because of disagreements with the show creators. Yes, I have talked to him.
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My fun announcement at #Mythmoot: I’m publishing my next book: Exploring the Lord of the Rings, Volume 1!
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Stumbled into a delightful new word last night in ExLOTR class: Gafferism — expressions of Sam Gamgee that are drawn from the paternal word-hoard. They’re blue-collar Shire aphorisms. (Last night’s was “a fair jaw-cracker”.).
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@retroreticent Here’s my only challenge to you: By all means oppose bigitry and hatred, but do it without becoming yourself guilty of the same things. That’s all. Too many people yelling at bigoted trolls are acting exactly like bigoted trolls. You cannot defeat hatred by hating people.
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Many thanks to @FindtheWalker for joining me and @MaggieParke on the @LOTRonPrime reaction show today. It was a great conversation about Gil-Galad, with many implications for our understanding of Tolkien’s canon and its relation to the show.
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