324 episodes

The Prancing Pony Podcast is a weekly show about the Middle-earth legendarium of J.R.R. Tolkien, hosted - for six seasons - by Alan Sisto and Shawn E. Marchese. As the show returns for its seventh season, Alan welcomes an all-star cast of co-hosts to join him as he explores the first part of The Return of the King!

Alan and all his co-hosts are passionate Tolkien enthusiasts, and they invite listeners to enjoy their detailed exploration of Tolkien’s work, with smart but straightforward discussion and a healthy dose of self-effacing humor, pop-culture references, and bad puns. These are the folks you'd want to hang out with at a pub and talk Tolkien with.

The Prancing Pony Podcast The Prancing Pony Podcast

    • Arts
    • 4.9 • 19 Ratings

The Prancing Pony Podcast is a weekly show about the Middle-earth legendarium of J.R.R. Tolkien, hosted - for six seasons - by Alan Sisto and Shawn E. Marchese. As the show returns for its seventh season, Alan welcomes an all-star cast of co-hosts to join him as he explores the first part of The Return of the King!

Alan and all his co-hosts are passionate Tolkien enthusiasts, and they invite listeners to enjoy their detailed exploration of Tolkien’s work, with smart but straightforward discussion and a healthy dose of self-effacing humor, pop-culture references, and bad puns. These are the folks you'd want to hang out with at a pub and talk Tolkien with.

    323 – Tolkien Reading Day 2024

    323 – Tolkien Reading Day 2024

    Put your own priorities aside and get ready to do the hard thing as you join us for the PPP’s ninth annual celebration of Tolkien Reading Day, observed every March 25 in honor of the destruction of the Ring and the fall of Barad-dûr. This year’s theme, as chosen by the Tolkien Society, is Service and Sacrifice — and wow, there are lots of great passages to choose from! The Man of the West and The Shield-maiden of Rohan join forces to highlight this powerful theme seen throughout Tolkien’s writing: from Éowyn and her frustration with ‘duty’, to the obvious Húrin moment; from Galadriel’s diminished joy, to a wet bicycle ride. Plus, Amandil’s private island is now head canon.

    • 2 hrs 5 min
    322 – Questions After Nightfall 26

    322 – Questions After Nightfall 26

    The Man of the West welcomes people who fanboy… about Sara, the Shield-maiden of Rohan, as we answer listener questions in our 26th Questions After Nightfall! From Dr. Brown’s TED talk to Alan’s improving sarcasm, from creation mythologies to the frat bros of the Valar, our listeners remind us we can always go lower. Alan guesses wrong, we apply the Prime Directive to the Valar, and decide that we don’t talk about Túrin, no no no.

    • 1 hr 30 min
    321 – Something to Talk About

    321 – Something to Talk About

    Éowyn is afraid that Darkness Unescapable is coming; Sara is afraid that Dad-Jokes Unescapable are coming. Join The Man of the West and the Shield-maiden of Rohan to find out which fear is most justified — as if you didn’t already know. Éowyn wears a pretty cloak, Faramir (i.e., Tolkien) shares his Atlantis dream, and the Eagles sing an encore. We watch as Éowyn finally swipes right on Faramir, agree that Aragorn is too old for her anyway, and decide that all men should be like Faramir. Also, it’s going to be a bright, bright, sunshiny day.

    • 2 hrs 4 min
    320 – Love Sneakin’ Up On You

    320 – Love Sneakin’ Up On You

    The women can tell Éowyn nothing; that’s only because Sara wasn’t there. Join Alan and Sara as Éowyn seeks to avoid yet another cage in our first episode on The Steward and the King. The Warden can’t envision a warrior-healer, Éowyn can’t endure five more minutes in this place, and Faramir can’t imagine another day without her. We talk about restraining orders in Rohan, reject Sara’s suggestion for a new segment (“Meanwhile, in Alan Knows Better”), and speculate about Éowyn and Boromir. Also, if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.

    • 1 hr 55 min
    319 – Big Damn Heroes, Sir

    319 – Big Damn Heroes, Sir

    The minstrel’s voice rises like silver and gold, and all men were hushed; except for The Man of the West who just won’t stop talking. Join Alan and Sara as we find a golden ring that can’t be melted in our second episode on The Field of Cormallen. Frodo and Sam have done the impossible, and that makes them mighty; Aragorn is humble; and Pippin is… well, Pippin. We talk about this being the eucatastrophe, peer into Legolas’ future, and listen to the best song you’ll never hear. Also, Alan butchers some Old English.

    • 1 hr 38 min
    318 – Burn the Land and Boil the Sea

    318 – Burn the Land and Boil the Sea

    The Realm of Sauron is ended, and the realm of Sara has begun. Join The Man of the West as he welcomes back Dr. Sara Brown as we visit the vulcanology lab once more in our first episode on The Field of Cormallen. Sam won’t let Frodo quit just yet, The Host of the West prepares for their imminent demise, and the Eagles play one more show at the Morannon. We talk about virtuous pagans, look for our invites to Gandalf’s retirement party, and compare Thorondor to an Airbus. Also, Sara sets herself up for singing disappointment. (CW: discussion of Denethor’s suicide.)

    • 1 hr 53 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
19 Ratings

19 Ratings

Mikkel Hoé Knudsen ,

My favorite thing

It’s just simply my favorite thing.
Whether you’re into adventure, winged or wingless balrogs, jealous elves or just an immensely great time, this is the Tolkien deep dive you’ve always wanted or if you’re new to Tolkien, it’s the perilous journey inside the professor’s mesmerizing legendarium. There’s no knowing where you might be swept off to!

ccalvinmonahan ,

Best companions for reading (or just geeking out with)Tolkien material

Shawn and Alan are such great podcasters, funny, intelligent and great to hang around. This show is both for hardcore fans who have been reading Tolkien since he was alive and for total beginners. You can listen to these guys just talking for hours…. even for years and they always put their hearts and their personlities into every episode - and this really gets through to the ones lucky enough to have discovered their show. They passionately love Tolkien material and they know so much about Middle-Earth and they have such contagious enthusiasm, humor, dedication, humbleness and curiosity every minute of every episode. It is very diffcult to put this quite long running series away - please keep doing what you are doing. We are many fans all over the world.

Mai Magi ,

Magical

An in-depth discussion of Tolkien's work, for true nerds! One of the few places someone who's read and re-read the Legendarium many times over can get new insights and see new sides of the works we all love so much. Simply brilliant!

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