Athrabeth

Jude Vais & Stef Midlock

Athrabeth is a monthly podcast that invites you down the lesser trod paths of Tolkien's Legendarium. Each episode we pick a single chapter, essay, fragment, or topic, and do a deep dive, exploring it as both fans and scholars.

  1. Oct 7

    Episode 99: Live from Oxonmoot 2026: Odious Oaths, Pernicious Promises, and Vicious Vows

    In episode 99, we discuss highlights from our recent trip to Oxonmoot 2026, and then present our session from Oxonmoot titled, “Odious Oaths, Pernicious Promises, and Vicious Vows: Athrabeth Podcast Live! ” with special guests Dr. Sara Brown and Dr. Kristine Larsen. One of the most dangerous things you can do in Arda is to swear an oath, make a promise, or take a vow. Join us to explore the unforeseen consequences and dire twists of fate associated with oath taking.    Thank you to Sara and Kristine for joining us for this session! You are both are the Queens of Memes!   Thank you to the Tolkien Society for having us, and thanks to their volunteer squad who made the weekend fun! Thank you to our audience who joined us both in Oxford and online, and thank you to our amazing room steward, D. Scott Fortner!    Listen to the show with accompanying slides on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/1HUBvRazbKU Citations Thank you to our special guests, Dr. Sara Brown and Dr. Kristine Larsen!    Dr. Sara Brown:  Email: sara.brown@signum.org Bsky: @aranelparmadil.bsky.social Threads: @aranelparmadil Signum University’s Everlearn page: https://blackberry.signumuniversity.org/everlearn/welcome/ (Accessed 10/6/26)   Dr. Kristine Larsen:  Email: larsen@ccsu.edu Congrats on being the new co-editor of the Tolkien Studies Journal! https://wvupressonline.com/journals/tolkien_studies/ (Accessed 10/6/26)    “The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth” cast from Oxonmoot 2026: Produced by: Mercury Natis Directed by: Dennis Massmann Torhthelm: Kit Hannah Tídwald: Erik Jampa Andersson    The work of Paul Corfield Godfrey https://www.paulcorfieldgodfrey.co.uk/ (Accessed 10/6/26)   Jude’s tattoo artist:  Gloria Notarangelo Instagram: @dyrs_hjarta_art contact@dyrshjarta.com   Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/4rZynfWv3f

  2. Aug 5

    Episode 97: Lesser-trod Paths with David the Ñoldo

    Join us this month for a special Lesser-trod Paths episode with David the Ñoldo! Springing from our last Lesser-trod History episode about The War of the Jewels, David joins us to discuss the dwarves in Tolkien’s legendarium. Looking through a lens of source criticism of secondary world authorship, David challenges us to consider who in the legendarium is writing about the dwarves, where these authors get their sources, and what potential biases are present. David asks us to consider whose history is written down and whose is silenced, and question why.    Citations:  Thank you to our guest, David the Ñoldo!  David’s linktree: https://linktr.ee/davidthengoldo Voices of Arda Episode 65: David the Ñoldo, May 29, 2026, Season 1 episode 65 https://poddtoppen.se/podcast/1647183649/voices-of-arda-podcast/voices-of-arda-episode-65-david-the-noldo (Accessed July 9, 2026) David’s Bibliography Agøy, Nils Ivar, “Viewpoints, Audiences and Lost Texts” in The Silmarillion Thirty Years On, ed. by Allan Turner, p.149-163.   Fimi, Dimitra. Tolkien, Race, and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits Flieger, Verlyn, Interrupted Music: The Making of Tolkien's Mythology   Hynes, Gerard, "From Nauglath to Durin's Folk: The Hobbit and Tolkien's Dwarves" in The Hobbit and Tolkien's Mythology: Essays on Revisions and Influences, ed. by Bradford Lee Eden, p.20-37   Nagy, Gergely, "The Adapted Text: The Lost Play of Beleriand" in Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review vol. I, ed. by Michael D.C. Drout, Verlyn Flieger, and David Bratman, p.21-41. —"The Silmarillion: Tolkien's Theory of Myth, Text, and Culture" in A Companion to J.R. R. Tolkien, ed. by Stuart D. Lee, p.107-118   Sena, Kenton; Harris, Kaelyn, "Re-enchanting Built Spaces: On Dwarves and Dwarven Places" in Cities and Strongholds of Middle-earth: Essays on the Habitations of Tolkien's Legendarium, ed. by Cami Agan, p.55-81   Tauber, James, Digital Tolkien Project, https://search.digitaltolkien.com/?terms=Naugrim   Tolkien, J.R.R., Gnomish Lexicon in PE11 p.30; Qenya Lexicon in PE12 p.67; Words, Phrases, and Passages, in PE17 p.181, in Parma Eldalamberon, ed. by Christopher Gilson. — The Silmarillion, ed. by Christopher Tolkien (New York: Ballantine Books, 1979). — The Lost Road and Other Writings, ed. by Christopher Tolkien (New York: Del Rey Books, 1996) — Morgoth’s Ring, ed. by Christopher Tolkien (London: HarperCollins Publishers, 2002). — The War of the Jewels, ed. by Christopher Tolkien (London: HarperCollins Publishers, 2002). — The Peoples of Middle-earth, ed. by Christopher Tolkien (London: HarperCollins Publishers, 2015)   Trouillot, Michel-Rolph, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History, 20th Anniversary Edition.   Walls-Thumma, Dawn, "Attainable Vistas: Historical Bias in Tolkien's Legendarium as a Motive for Transformative Fanworks," Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 3: Iss. 3, Article 3. Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol3/iss3/3   Upcoming events Tolkien and Middle-earth Online Art Exhibition- August 15, 2026 https://sites.google.com/breecrossroadsartexhibitionevent.com/home/home The Big Read- Ongoing, every other Monday https://erikjampa.substack.com/p/tolkien-society-seminar-and-tolkien Oxonmoot- September 3-6, 2026 https://www.tolkiensociety.org/events/oxonmoot-2026/

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Athrabeth is a monthly podcast that invites you down the lesser trod paths of Tolkien's Legendarium. Each episode we pick a single chapter, essay, fragment, or topic, and do a deep dive, exploring it as both fans and scholars.

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