WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:01.679 All right, what's up. 2 00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:06.040 We're on the road, and not Cormack McCarthy's the road. 3 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:09.919 We will not be chomping on anybody's thighs or butts. 4 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:11.759 We are on the road. 5 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:16.480 And I thought it's perfect timing to return to the 6 00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:18.839 Lord of the Rings. I've not read The Hobbit or 7 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:21.480 The Lord of the Rings in many, many years. Of 8 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:24.039 course they read it, I think a couple times when 9 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:27.320 I was in junior high and high school, and. 10 00:00:27.559 --> 00:00:31.039 Now is the perfect time to return to it, just because. 11 00:00:31.640 --> 00:00:34.600 And I also realized that a lot of the analyzes 12 00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:37.240 that are out there, they're really good. There are plenty 13 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:40.399 that focus on this or that element, this or that, 14 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:44.359 you know, layer or level of analysis, but not many 15 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:50.320 people have done a significant deep dive covering all of 16 00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:56.119 the influences, the layers, the levels, and even the intelligence 17 00:00:56.280 --> 00:01:00.000 domain that I think is clearly there to influence Tolkien. 18 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:01.439 And we're going to talk about all that. This is 19 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:03.520 probably going to be a several part series. It won't 20 00:01:03.560 --> 00:01:06.359 be just one, it's going to be multiple parts. 21 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:09.680 So we're going to start with the first half of 22 00:01:09.719 --> 00:01:10.680 the Hobbits today. 23 00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:14.120 So we've gotten through actually more than the first half 24 00:01:14.200 --> 00:01:15.959 of this will be a Part one and a part too, 25 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:18.280 So if you want to get access to the full 26 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:22.480 video here, you'll want to subscribe to Jay's analysis and 27 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:25.000 head on over to the website or here for members 28 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:28.159 on YouTube and choose the four ninety five option or 29 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:31.239 the sixty dollars a year option to get access to 30 00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:33.480 the full talks. Of course, I am still going to 31 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:36.359 do the Old Boys Part two very soon. That will 32 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:39.400 be in the midst of this ongoing series. But we 33 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:42.319 have a long journey ahead of us. We have our 34 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:45.640 own little journey to Mordor as we go to Vegas 35 00:01:45.640 --> 00:01:49.359 in LA for host of podcasts, And so what. 36 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:53.400 Better ascetic struggle than. 37 00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:57.560 The Lord of the Rings in the Hobbit. Now, a 38 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:00.120 lot of people don't know, as we said that the 39 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:02.879 Hobbit is kind of a little many Lord of the Rings. 40 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:07.480 I've noticed that it's basically the same patterns, the same structure, 41 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:10.479 And of course it was written for his children. 42 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:13.680 So Tolkien wrote that for his. 43 00:02:13.639 --> 00:02:15.840 Kids, and then as they got older they would be 44 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:20.759 a little more able to digest the intense complexities of 45 00:02:21.400 --> 00:02:24.560 the Lord of the Rings. But the Hobbit was a 46 00:02:24.599 --> 00:02:27.840 precursor to that kind of a prologue. You could say, 47 00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:31.159 but how's not just a lot of the same themes 48 00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:33.120 kind of in a shorter mini version. It also has 49 00:02:33.159 --> 00:02:36.599 a lot of different layers and symbolic structures that again 50 00:02:36.599 --> 00:02:39.439 I think most people are not aware of. A key 51 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:43.120 element to that is integral to my thesis is a 52 00:02:43.159 --> 00:02:48.120 recent declassification that occurred amongst British government and British Intelligence that, 53 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:54.039 of course, you got it. Tolkien was an intelligence operative 54 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:55.360 at least to some degree. 55 00:02:55.439 --> 00:02:56.240 For a couple of years. 56 00:02:56.240 --> 00:03:00.719 He worked at Bletchley Park for British Intelligence, which was 57 00:03:00.759 --> 00:03:05.960 the Enigma machine slash Alan Turing area of cryptography. So 58 00:03:05.960 --> 00:03:13.520 they were engaged in decoding World War two cryptographic communications 59 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:16.080 by the tiny mustache man people and others. So I 60 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:19.120 think that's a key component to where we can see 61 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:23.360 that World War two tiny mustache man stuff plays a role. 62 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:26.280 It is not all about that. People have obviously different theories. 63 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:29.599 They think it's about money in the banking structure. All 64 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:32.479 of those things can be the case. And when we 65 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:35.800 read this in tandem with other Inklings writings which. 66 00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:37.039 We've covered, such as C. S. 67 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:41.319 Lewis's famous Space trilogy, we know that as we progress 68 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:43.680 through one two and through the Space Trilogy. We covered 69 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:47.520 that very in depth, maybe three years ago. One of 70 00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:50.479 those videos actually got anywhere. I think it was a 71 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:52.639 quarter million, maybe even up to half a million, between 72 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:57.479 all the different outlets of views between Lord Voldemort and 73 00:03:57.560 --> 00:04:00.599 the Fourth Hour when we did that bunch of other 74 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:05.960 outlets like acts. So in that we noticed that there's 75 00:04:05.960 --> 00:04:09.159 a specific reference in the appendix to Volume one of 76 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:14.120 the Space Trilogy where Lewis notes that Professor Ransom is 77 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:19.800 basically Tolkien. And in that appendix it discusses Tolkien discovering 78 00:04:19.879 --> 00:04:23.040 some neoplatonic medieval texts that he thought were sort of 79 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:29.600 crucial to interpreting the world and reality and the Grand narrative. 80 00:04:29.639 --> 00:04:31.959 And so The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings 81 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:35.079 are kind of like Lewis's works, And I know there's 82 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:39.079 a difference between them. I've interviewed my godfather, Dean Arnold 83 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:40.920 on some of their disagreements over literature. 84 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:42.560 But both of those writers. 85 00:04:42.199 --> 00:04:46.560 Are trying to re interject a transcendent mythological worldview. And 86 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:49.879 I don't be mean by mythology fake, I mean true myth, 87 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:53.720 right myth containing truth and meaning, and that reality is 88 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:59.319 no longer abstracted scientific data as the Enlightenment and Darwinian 89 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:03.839 ethos kind of scientific revolution gave the world. Now the 90 00:05:03.879 --> 00:05:09.480 world would be re interjected with meaning, and so Space Trilogy, Narnia, 91 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:12.120 and all of the canon of Tolkien's Lord of the 92 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:16.279 Rings Silmarillion included, they are an attempt to give a 93 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:20.279 grand narrative and reintroduce meaning, especially in a post. 94 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.560 World War one and World War two world. So there's 95 00:05:22.600 --> 00:05:23.040 a lot of. 96 00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:28.240 Negative attitudes, a lot of black pilling going on after 97 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:29.399 World War One and. 98 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:29.920 World War Two. 99 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:34.439 And one thing that both writers have as a commonality 100 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:38.319 is the return of Christian monarchy, the Christian king, the 101 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:41.600 return of the king. Same theme in the Space Trilogy 102 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:44.480 when Merlin comes back, he says, let's get the King 103 00:05:44.519 --> 00:05:45.040 of England. 104 00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:45.839 He'll help us. 105 00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:49.040 Out, and they're all like, uh No, that dude ain't 106 00:05:49.079 --> 00:05:51.839 gonna help you at all. He's part of the bad guys, 107 00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:55.000 He's part of Tavistok. And that's essentially what's going on 108 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:58.079 in part three of the Space Trilogy. So we've covered 109 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:00.800 all that though, but that's a key window into the 110 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:04.600 fact that I think both writers were giving their insight 111 00:06:04.759 --> 00:06:08.800 and their wisdom about the twentieth century, and the dangers 112 00:06:09.079 --> 00:06:13.480 not just on a technological, spiritual or a technological worldly level, 113 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:17.160 but also on a global level in terms of the 114 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:21.519 possibility of total information awareness, all seeing eye technology. That's 115 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:26.480 exactly what's going on with Mordor and the Eye of Salron. 116 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:28.480 Of course we'll get to that later on. That's not 117 00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:29.560 the subject really of the. 118 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:33.519 Hobbit, but you do have some of the classic literary 119 00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:37.680 tropes and archetypes, like the dragon. The dragon basically feeding 120 00:06:38.040 --> 00:06:42.040 off of human desires and greed. We know that, of 121 00:06:42.040 --> 00:06:45.759 course Thorin is tempted with greed. And we'll talk about 122 00:06:45.800 --> 00:06:48.920 the races of Middle Earth and all that, but really 123 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:52.240 the Hobbit, I think assess the stage for the introduction 124 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:57.839 to Middle Earth and the idea of bringing back good 125 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:00.560 and evil, that all of the races really have a 126 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:04.519 common enemy, which is a spiritual enemy, something beyond merely 127 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:08.399 political factions or racial factions and tentions. Not that those 128 00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:13.160 things don't exist, but they're not the real sort of concern. 129 00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:17.160 Another thing that I think is crucial to understand is the. 130 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:20.680 Lost Work that. 131 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:23.319 Was going to be a sequel that Tolkien was going 132 00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:25.959 to do, which was called The new Shadow, and he 133 00:07:26.040 --> 00:07:27.680 mentions this in a couple of his letters, and he 134 00:07:27.720 --> 00:07:29.319 says that really the sequel to the Lord of the 135 00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:32.920 Rings was supposed to be, in his own words, a 136 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:37.279 future Gondor about one hundred years after the time of Aragorn, 137 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:41.439 where a dark Orc Satanic cult, and he calls it 138 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:45.839 a secret Satanist religion had taken over, using secret societies 139 00:07:45.879 --> 00:07:47.800 to subvert Gondor. And of course there's a lot of 140 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:51.879 parallels between Gondor and Byzantium, and there's a lot of 141 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:54.720 parallels between Numanor and Atlantis, and we'll get to all 142 00:07:54.759 --> 00:07:56.000 that when we get to Lord of the Rings. But 143 00:07:56.959 --> 00:07:58.959 the idea was that in the Fourth Age there would 144 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:04.240 be the children of Arwin and Aragorn. They would be 145 00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:09.120 confronting some new rising evil where the Orcs would have 146 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:14.920 a secret Satanic society seeking to overthrow the legitimate rulers 147 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:18.800 of Gondor, which will be the seat of Airyworn. And 148 00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:24.879 that again speaks to the loss of Christian government, Christian monarchy, 149 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:28.600 Christian imperium, which was the norm throughout the Middle Ages 150 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:32.039 East and West, the Byzantine Empire or the Eastern Roman 151 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:35.279 Catholic Empire, not Roman Catholic in the papal sense, but 152 00:08:35.399 --> 00:08:39.200 Roman in the ROMIOI sense Catholic and the universal faith 153 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:42.279 confession sense, which is what of course Orthodox Christians are. 154 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:48.960 And this lost Byzantium, this lost Christian state is a 155 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:52.159 theme again that is there also. I think this could 156 00:08:52.200 --> 00:08:57.320 go back to, you know, Arthur Arturian legends in Britain 157 00:08:57.559 --> 00:09:01.039 and British literature, and of course Us and Tolkien and 158 00:09:01.080 --> 00:09:03.399 others were members of the Inklings, and many of the 159 00:09:03.399 --> 00:09:06.159 Inklings also, as we said, worked in British intelligence. They 160 00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:10.440 were also linguists, they were also literary scholars. In fact, 161 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:15.000 Tolkien translated one of the deuteroconomical texts for the Jerusalem Bible, 162 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:17.759 which is a Roman Catholic translation, so he was also 163 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:20.000 very familiar with the duteroconical text. And I've never seen 164 00:09:20.039 --> 00:09:24.240 anybody talk about the deuterocononical influence on the Lord of 165 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:27.360 the Rings, which I've noticed, and I will be discussing 166 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:29.240 that when we get to the trilogy. 167 00:09:29.320 --> 00:09:35.200 But as we pop it off here with your boy Bilbo. 168 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:41.320 And we'll do Silmarilli into so we'll get into some 169 00:09:41.399 --> 00:09:48.039 of that for you nerds. But Bilbo is a relative 170 00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:48.720 of the Tukes. 171 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:51.039 He's half Tuk, and the Tukes are said to be 172 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:52.519 the more. 173 00:09:54.120 --> 00:10:00.320 The less respectable of the Baggin's touch lineage. So he 174 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:04.720 has in his Hobbit DNA a wild side, and that's 175 00:10:04.759 --> 00:10:08.600 what Gandolf arrives to appeal to, because we know Gandalf 176 00:10:08.679 --> 00:10:11.559 is going to kind of be the main instigator, the 177 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:14.919 sort of handler, right the if we could think of 178 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:18.559 a Henry Kissinger, a major player, but not an evil Kissinger, 179 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:21.600 like a good Kissinger, is essentially what Gandolf is. 180 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:25.759 But he does operate quite similar to some kind of 181 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:31.480 an intelligence handler to the Dwarfs and to Bilbo. And 182 00:10:32.279 --> 00:10:33.200 like most. 183 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:36.639 Literary works or the Hero's Journey, Bilbo is of course 184 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:42.240 cowardly at first. He's very in love with his security 185 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:45.039 and with his amenities and with his luxuries that he 186 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:49.279 has in hobbiton in the Shire, and he's very cowardly, right, 187 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:51.279 He's afraid. He doesn't want to have anything to do 188 00:10:51.320 --> 00:10:54.159 with adventures. He eschees any adventures. 189 00:10:55.320 --> 00:10:58.639 And the Dwarves arrived because. 190 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:02.200 Of course Gandolf has arranged this scenario and he needs 191 00:11:02.360 --> 00:11:07.679 somebody who has the cunning and the archetypal structure of 192 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:14.200 a Hobbits to engage in a subversion and sneaking around Smog. 193 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:18.519 So he needs just like he will need Frodo and Samuiz. 194 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:22.360 In The Lord of the Rings to eventually get into 195 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:25.679 Mordor when Saron is distracted right, which is a kind 196 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:31.039 of a espionage secret you know, deflection tactic, because Sarn 197 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:35.200 is focused on the war. This will allow the unsuspecting 198 00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:37.840 Hobbits to make their way into Mortar to destroy the Ring. 199 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:40.879 But here we have a similar situation where Bilbo is 200 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:45.919 chosen by Gandalf because Gandalf knows as Bilbo's handler that 201 00:11:46.840 --> 00:11:50.200 a burglar such as Bilbo would be perfect for the job. 202 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:54.840 The Dwarves I forgot. By the way, I forgot the 203 00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:57.159 song that they sing is actually the same song they 204 00:11:57.200 --> 00:11:57.879 sing in the movie. 205 00:11:57.919 --> 00:11:59.519 I'm not really going to be focusing a lot on 206 00:11:59.559 --> 00:12:03.960 the movie. Obviously the book is better than the movie. 207 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:06.360 I don't think the Hobbit movies are terrible, but you know, 208 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:08.919 they're not as interesting as the novel. 209 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:12.799 But they did sing that song. 210 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:15.639 I forget exactly what goes, but I thought that was 211 00:12:15.720 --> 00:12:17.960 kind of funny. There's quite a bit of actually of 212 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.639 like spitting bars in this. I don't know if you noticed, 213 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:24.720 but the goblins they spit bars, so they actually. 214 00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:25.879 Kind of rap, which is what I thought was kind 215 00:12:25.879 --> 00:12:29.600 of funny. They're like doing battle raps and disraps in 216 00:12:29.639 --> 00:12:30.919 the midst of the adventures. 217 00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:38.240 But the Dwarves are missing their homeland and they wish 218 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:41.039 to have their gold in their homeland back. There's a 219 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:44.799 lot of discussion as to whether Dwarves represent Jews. I 220 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:46.960 think there's some possibility of this. I don't think it's 221 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:50.039 a one to one. I think that what Tolkien was doing, 222 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:53.840 very similar to Lewis in the Space trilogy, was warning 223 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:58.799 about the possibility of an international technocratic threat. That's one 224 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:01.559 of the key prophetic elements that we'll especially see when 225 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:02.679 we get to Lord of the Rings. 226 00:13:02.679 --> 00:13:05.120 And it's not just the all seeing eye sort of 227 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:10.120 symbolism of Salaron. It's also the tech warnings. And in fact, 228 00:13:10.279 --> 00:13:12.639 I was surprised in returning to the Hobbit to see 229 00:13:12.759 --> 00:13:15.799 some of those tech warnings in the Hobbit. I mean 230 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:17.480 I expected it and I remembered it from Lord of 231 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:17.879 the Rings. 232 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:22.240 With the genetic engineering of the Aricai and Soromon basically 233 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:23.759 creates a sort of gunpowder. 234 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:24.559 This kind of stuff. 235 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:29.519 But I didn't recall that there's a specific discussion that 236 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:34.480 Tolkien has of the goblins creating the weapons of mass destruction. 237 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:36.960 He says, many of the implements that men use in 238 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:41.279 war to kill mass numbers of people, he said, are 239 00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:46.240 Goblin inventions. So already in the prologue of the prequel, 240 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:51.279 The Hobbit, we have again even the more esoteric, so 241 00:13:51.320 --> 00:13:57.159 to speak, themes of technology contrasted with nature and harmonizing 242 00:13:57.200 --> 00:14:01.639 with nature, that synthesis with nature that's at against the tech. 243 00:14:02.120 --> 00:14:05.879 And specifically he says about the Orcs, they really just 244 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:12.000 use tech to dominate and to destroy nature, right, So 245 00:14:12.039 --> 00:14:13.879 there's no respect for the natural world. 246 00:14:14.200 --> 00:14:16.320 It's really just seen as a tool of dominance. And 247 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:17.440 that would become very clear. 248 00:14:17.240 --> 00:14:20.799 When we get to, of course, the the traitorous figure 249 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:22.320 of a Saramon. 250 00:14:23.559 --> 00:14:27.879 So Gandolf Leaves runs. 251 00:14:28.120 --> 00:14:32.600 Gandolf, as we said, is this sort of wise archetype 252 00:14:32.600 --> 00:14:37.320 of this sage. He's also a kind of a Kissinger, 253 00:14:37.480 --> 00:14:41.799 sort of an intelligence handler figure who has an immense 254 00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:43.639 amount of knowledge. But he's also a member of a 255 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:47.159 secret order, and this comes up later on. We know 256 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:49.679 that he's a member of the order of the Secret Fire. 257 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:53.320 He's a keeper of the Flame of arn Ore, and 258 00:14:53.559 --> 00:14:56.200 Gandalf will be consistently associated with. 259 00:14:56.519 --> 00:14:57.320 What with fire. 260 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:00.960 And this is important because the different wizard in this world, 261 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:06.000 whether it's Ratigast or whether it's Saramon, or rather whether 262 00:15:06.039 --> 00:15:10.480 it's Gandolf right, they're elemental in their associations. Gandalf is 263 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:12.200 associated with fire, the flame of Warner. They keep it 264 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:15.759 the secret secret flame. Ratigas the Brown is associated with 265 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:20.720 earth animals, et cetera. He speaks to them, hence the Brown. 266 00:15:20.840 --> 00:15:23.919 So you have Gandalf the White. He's also when Gandalf 267 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:26.919 is sort of reborn as Gandalf the White, it's through 268 00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:31.159 the White Flame that he's reborn. Saramon is airror and breath. 269 00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:34.480 He engages in weather control. He builds towers up into 270 00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:37.840 the air to the sky, and he eventually wants to 271 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:41.240 become Samon the mini colored right, so he wants to 272 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:43.519 master all of the elements and have all the powers. 273 00:15:44.120 --> 00:15:47.000 He is very much an intellect, which again intellect is 274 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:52.000 the higher the faculties again closer associated with air or mind. 275 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:52.960 Voice. 276 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:57.440 He uses a very hypnotic voice and magic power that 277 00:15:57.480 --> 00:16:00.440 he has through his words and so that's all sologain 278 00:16:00.519 --> 00:16:05.799 air and utilizes mind control, right in the case of 279 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:12.039 when he mind controls the King of Rohan. So there 280 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:15.720 are then these elemental associations that I think are necessary. 281 00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:17.519 And again this is not surprising because, as I said, 282 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:20.960 one of the key elements here is Neoplatonism and the 283 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:25.720 neoplatonic association that they're associated with, you know, classical sort 284 00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:29.759 of magical texts, and that's something that I don't hear 285 00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:31.879 anyone else talking about. Also, by the way, when we 286 00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:34.480 get into the Simmlarillion, we'll see the neoplatonic idea of 287 00:16:34.519 --> 00:16:38.519 the creation myth with the Valar and others. Right, that's 288 00:16:38.559 --> 00:16:45.039 also part of this neoplatonic structure that undergirds both the Space. 289 00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:46.759 Trilogy and Lord of the Rings. 290 00:16:47.320 --> 00:16:50.440 And perhaps you could argue as well Narnia, because of 291 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:54.039 course Oslin sings reality into existence, and we'll see that 292 00:16:54.120 --> 00:16:57.279 with Illuvitar's creation of Middle Earth as well. 293 00:16:57.559 --> 00:16:58.960 Now, to get back to. 294 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:03.360 The Lord of the Rings, the Dwarves are seeking their homeland, 295 00:17:03.399 --> 00:17:05.839 so I think there is probably an analogy again thinking 296 00:17:05.880 --> 00:17:09.400 of World War two right to some elements of the 297 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:12.240 history of the Jews. I don't think that Tolkien is 298 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:14.119 intentionally trying to be some sort of a Zionists think. 299 00:17:14.119 --> 00:17:17.359 More so, he's concerned with the fact that the future 300 00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:22.920 technocratic antichrist sort of power that would rise in the world. 301 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:26.519 And again Lewis is making this point with Volume three 302 00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:30.279 of the Space Trilogy is something that would be against 303 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:32.359 all of the race, is playing them against one another, 304 00:17:32.359 --> 00:17:37.240 and that's exactly what we see Suron and Saramon doing so. 305 00:17:39.640 --> 00:17:41.559 The dwarves are eager to get back to their homeland. 306 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:45.759 They're very interested in jewels and gold, again suggesting certain 307 00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:50.839 Middle Eastern peoples. We have a introduction of the dragon, 308 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:54.000 which is the archetype begin from scripture of the Serpent 309 00:17:54.039 --> 00:17:57.039 that invades Eden. In the story, of course, we know 310 00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:59.680 eventually the Hobbit is a kind of a shame of 311 00:17:59.720 --> 00:18:02.359 the shot is a kind of Eden, and it eventually 312 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:05.519 is threatened by the evil that's rising and mort or 313 00:18:05.640 --> 00:18:08.799 the Sorcerer the necro answer, who I think we will 314 00:18:08.920 --> 00:18:18.319 discover is Suron. But here the dragon is immediately associated 315 00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:22.000 with He devours men and dwarfs right. The dragon is 316 00:18:22.599 --> 00:18:27.079 essentially a completely malevolent force with no goodwill or intentions, 317 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:33.400 and is a pure force of destruction. But it's also 318 00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:37.200 connected with the association that it has to gold, because 319 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:40.839 for whatever reason, dragons have to sort of uh, you know, 320 00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:46.440 make they crib and a bunch of gold, right, gold 321 00:18:46.440 --> 00:18:48.519 all over my crib, Gold. 322 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:52.960 All over my bed, Isn't that right, Jamie? And so. 323 00:18:57.559 --> 00:19:01.759 The story here then is how to get back into 324 00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:05.119 the mountain. We have this prophecy, as we'll learn later, 325 00:19:05.240 --> 00:19:09.400 of the return of the King of Foreign Oakenshield with 326 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:11.960 the return of the King and of the Mountain, mirroring 327 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:15.119 again the return of the King of Aragorn at the 328 00:19:15.160 --> 00:19:16.559 end of The Lord of the Rings. So again there's 329 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:19.880 a lot of parallels to the later trilogy. 330 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:23.640 But again remember Tolkien was himself intelligence. 331 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:28.200 He was for two years working in intelligence, espionage cryptography 332 00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:32.200 at Bletchley Park. And I think that's a key element 333 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:36.000 that many people have not understood about this trilogy or 334 00:19:36.039 --> 00:19:40.200 about the books, because that would obviously influence what he's doing. 335 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:43.039 That's why he's so interested in not just language and linguistics, 336 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:47.799 but symbology and symbolism, ruins, et cetera, and history itself, 337 00:19:48.359 --> 00:19:49.480 Nordic history. 338 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:53.160 Ancient Slavonic myths, ancient. 339 00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:57.599 Nordic tales, all of that plays a role in influencing 340 00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:05.880 this series. So as they embark on their journey, we 341 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:11.079 find them in engaging in the standard sort of fantasy 342 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:12.799 adventure stuff that you would expect a lot of this, 343 00:20:12.839 --> 00:20:14.640 by the way, it comes out of mythology too. There's 344 00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:19.559 references to trolls the elves. But one thing I thought 345 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:22.400 that was interesting was as they embark on the journey 346 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:24.960 and they engage in these sort it's very similar to Odysseus, right, 347 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:27.160 So when Odysseus is on his journey, he's constantly sort 348 00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:30.880 of tempted with giants and battling them, or when he's 349 00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:34.240 you know, tempted by the sirens to be you know, 350 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:35.680 distracted from his course. 351 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:38.359 So quite a few elements of classical. 352 00:20:37.880 --> 00:20:41.799 Literature kind of pop pop up here, whether it's Virgil 353 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:44.319 or whether it's Homer. You can see a lot of 354 00:20:44.359 --> 00:20:53.279 parallels to ancient Western literature as well. But the elves 355 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:56.319 are also engaged in, if you didn't catch it, a 356 00:20:56.440 --> 00:21:00.599 vast intelligence network. In fact, it's even explained that the 357 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:03.960 elves have intelligence before anyone else. They know everything that's 358 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:07.440 going on. They even sing songs about Bilbo on his journey, 359 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:10.720 and Bilbo doesn't even know how they knew this, presumably 360 00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:15.200 maybe through Gandalf, but again, they know everything that's going on. 361 00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:20.119 They don't exactly know when they get to the woodland elves, 362 00:21:20.119 --> 00:21:22.519 but the earlier elves that they meet before when they 363 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:25.079 go to Rivendel, right, the el Ron and his elves 364 00:21:25.079 --> 00:21:28.079 are singing songs about them, and they have the intelligence 365 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:30.440 necessary to decode the map. 366 00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:35.960 That is a map drawn up by Thorn's relatives. 367 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:41.599 And l Rond is also again a kind of wise sage, 368 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:49.039 wise man handler. He's spoken of as knowing extensively various languages, symbols, runes. 369 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:51.200 Et cetera. So very much like Tolkien himself. 370 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:54.440 I think Tolkien saw himself as an el Rond or 371 00:21:54.519 --> 00:21:57.799 as a kind of a Gandolf character, again being a 372 00:21:57.799 --> 00:22:01.640 master linguist, being a translator and working for British intelligence 373 00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:02.559 at Bletchley Park. 374 00:22:02.680 --> 00:22:05.440 So also interesting. 375 00:22:05.160 --> 00:22:10.200 Is times, dates and seasons that come into play when 376 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:13.559 they mentioned during's day. You know, this is a world 377 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:19.720 where there are ritual holidays, and those ritual holidays are 378 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:22.400 connected to the sun and the moon, the signs, and 379 00:22:22.440 --> 00:22:25.839 the seasons. This is obviously part of liturgy because in 380 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:30.400 Genesis we have the statement that God set the luminaries 381 00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:33.720 in the sky for times and seasons. So in a way, 382 00:22:34.440 --> 00:22:39.920 the planets and the celestial spheres are like a giant clock, 383 00:22:40.359 --> 00:22:42.359 and so the whole universe is sort of a clock 384 00:22:43.160 --> 00:22:47.160 that at certain conjunctions has a religious connotation with it. 385 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:49.680 In terms of the religious calendar and the Orthodox Church, 386 00:22:49.880 --> 00:22:53.680 we have the Orthodox Church calendar. Of course, Tolkien himself, 387 00:22:53.720 --> 00:22:55.799 being a traditional Catholic who was a big fan of 388 00:22:55.799 --> 00:22:58.200 the Latin Mass, he also understood this same type of 389 00:22:58.200 --> 00:23:02.119 a world view. The reality and life is liturgical, and 390 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:04.599 that's why Duran's Day is really important, because there's a 391 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:07.839 conjunction that's going to occur between the sun and the 392 00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:10.240 moon at the same time it said, and there will 393 00:23:10.279 --> 00:23:13.400 be a thrush who is you know, knocking his acorns 394 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:17.400 or whatever, And that's a sign that it's an opening 395 00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:21.079 for this doorway. At other times it doesn't open. We 396 00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:26.079 also find them encountering rock giants or titans. This could 397 00:23:26.119 --> 00:23:29.039 have a reference to Cabbalistic mythology. Of course, we have 398 00:23:29.079 --> 00:23:34.680 the character Gollum himself could also have some degree of Cobbalistic. 399 00:23:34.119 --> 00:23:35.079 Reference or influence. 400 00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:38.519 I mean, I know that in the story the name 401 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:41.519