Welcome to the Lord of the Rings lore cast, the show that explores the background of

Tolkien's amazing world from the very beginning.

As we begin chapter nine, barrels out of mound, we are again traveling deeper into the land

of the Faye, directly in this case to the stronghold of the elven kingdom.

In this section, you'll see a number of places where Tolkien continues to ratchet up

the tension and the severity of the situation they're in, while still reminding us,

like on last episode, that the elves are not evil.

They are other. They are something that the elves are not evil. They are other.

They are something that the dwarves and Bilbo haven't dealt with directly yet in the story.

Sure, we got a little bit of a glimpse of them when they were rushing towards the campfires

and in the situation we just read about with Thorin.

But this is the point in which we actually get into what elves are like, according to the

Hobbit.

And there's a lot that Tolkien is pulling from his previous writings.

I've mentioned on previous episodes how Thrandwell came from Doriath was one of

Thingles' people, and there's more than just a connection here based on where he came from.

I think you'll notice that there are a lot of similarities between Doreith and Menegroth,

the caves of Menegroth, and this woodland realm of Thranduils.

You have a number of similarities here.

You have the deep forest.

This is a very deep and dark forest that feels mysterious and magical.

You have a river as a boundary, this guarded river in the case of the woodland realm, and the river Escaldoin, and on top of that, the girdle of Mellian, but you don't really have a girdle in this situation.

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