The episode accurately identifies Tolkien’s initial desire to create a “mythology” for England, and goes on to identify two distinct influences on Tolkien’s writings about Middle-earth: his knowledge and research of the myths, legends and languages of other cultures, and his real-life experiences. For example, Frodo’s eventual addiction to the Ring of Power is compared to the 13^th century Volsunga saga where the king’s son resorts to hiding in caverns after killing his father and stealing his ring. Similar fascinating comparisons made throughout the episode will prompt Tolkien fans to get out their pens and paper and start taking notes!

Instead of borrowing footage from the recent blockbuster films, the History Channel chose to create their own footage which blends in well with other episodes in the series. Doing so ties the mythological themes in each episode together well. Using footage from Peter Jackson’s films would have been jarring to the audience enjoying the series as a whole. This makes it easier to overlook a few mis-steps that Tolkien purists will notice, such as beardless dwarves and an old and grey-haired Bilbo discovering the Ring, when he was a hale and hearty hobbit who had barely attained middle-age at the time.

All in all, I definitely recommend tuning  in to this episode if you’re a fan of Tolkien as a man and author, a fan of his writings or a fan brought into the myths and legends of Middle-earth through the recent movies! The DVD set of the “Clash of the Gods” series is also available for sale from the History Channel.

Howard Shore’s music for Peter Jackson on The Lord of the Rings trilogy won three Academy Awards, four Grammy, three Golden Globes and probably a free lunch or two at some Tolkien-themed convention somewhere. Now, the music for the first film in the set is coming to New York’s Radio City Music Hall with the breathy title of ”The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Howard Shore’s Complete Score Live to Film.” I suppose if Tolkien didn’t care about how long his titles were, the producers of the concert event shouldn’t either.

The 21st Century Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Ludwig Wicki will welcome vocalist Kaitlyn Lusk with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and The Collegiate Chorale. The musicians and singers perform the film music live, set to the film’s images projected on a massive high-def screen (above).

When you consider the Star Wars folks are touring the nation with their own similar set-up, it looks like this is becoming a new concert genre onto itself.

Hobbits and Orcs will invade the realm of the Rockettes for two nights only.