The Hobbit Lectures
    Lecture I: "Took and Baggins"

    How Tolkien explores the tension between the fantastic and the mundane
    and embodies it in the character of his excitable little protagonist.

    Length: 37 Minutes
    Reading: Chapter One
$2.00
Questions?  Comments?  Email me at olsen@tolkienprofessor.com
    In 1937, J.R.R. Tolkien published The Hobbit, his first major work of
    fiction.  Many of you might have read this book as a child, or even
    listened while a parent read it to you, as Tolkien read it to his own
    children.
    As you return to this amusing little book as an adult, however, you will
    find that it stands up to very careful scrutiny.  Through Bilbo Baggins's
    fictional diary, Tolkien articulates his unique approach to storytelling,
    and he lays the groundwork for the Lord of the Rings.
    A Technical Note:
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    Need a good edition of the book so that you can keep up with the
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    The Hobbit Series
  1. Took and Baggins (Now Available)
  2. The Ridiculous and the Sublime (Now Available)
  3. At the Roots of the Mountain (New!)
  4. Rescued in the Wild, by the Wild (Forthcoming)
  5. Bilbo Builds His Resume (Forthcoming)
  6. Never Laugh at Live Dragons (Forthcoming)
  7. The Hobbit Grows Up (Forthcoming)
  8. Return and Recovery (Forthcoming)
    I am recording new lectures as quickly as I can, so make sure to check
    back for new installments regularly!
    Lecture II: "The Ridiculous and the Sublime"

    Concerning the awkward beginning of Bilbo's burglarious career and how
    Tolkien balances the silly and ludicrous with the terrifying and
    transcendent in his depiction of the trolls and the elves.

    Length: 32 Minutes
    Reading: Chapters Two and Three
$2.00
         Lecture III: "At the Roots of the Mountain"
      
            How Bilbo plunges into the Wild, comes to the "turning point in his        
           career" (in several senses), and makes the most momentous decision of his
           entire life.

           Length: 49 Minutes
           Reading: Chapters Four and Five
$2.00