Ch. 4 - The Great Wave

[00:00:11] Hello and welcome to episode four of Rings and Rituals, The Great Wave from the Pain in

[00:00:17] the K series Rings of Power. I'm Marilyn, the librarian of Rivendell.

[00:00:21] And I'm Sara, shield maiden of Rohan. And we're delighted that you've joined us.

[00:00:26] Today we'll be reviewing what we mean by ritual and then applying those concepts

[00:00:30] to different examples of ritual that we find in this fourth episode of the TV series.

[00:00:35] We'll explore them using a set of questions to reveal how Pain in the K

[00:00:38] depicted the cultures that they're adapting to their series.

[00:00:42] Be sure to get in touch with us. A discussion of two is an adventure,

[00:00:46] but we'd love to have more voices join us. You can email us at ringsandritualsatthelawrhounds.com

[00:00:55] and or you can join our Rings and Rituals channel on Lawrhounds Discord.

[00:01:00] We'll include all that information in the show notes.

[00:01:02] And we also want to say that we are a proud affiliate of the Lawhounds Barovian Broadcasting

[00:01:06] Network where you'll find all sorts of interesting podcasts on TV, films, books,

[00:01:11] video games and other stories. Our thanks to all the listeners who support the Lawhounds through

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[00:01:21] If you like what we're doing here, consider giving them a boost as well.

[00:01:25] As our regular listeners know, we like to start with a review of our definition of ritual,

[00:01:30] particularly for anyone who might be joining us for the first time.

[00:01:33] Sara, what do we mean by ritual?

[00:01:35] Well, a ritual is a repeated action and it's something that's usually intended to either

[00:01:41] recognize or bring about some kind of change. It often has symbolic content, but it doesn't

[00:01:48] always, for example brushing your teeth every morning and night is a ritual

[00:01:53] and has no other symbolic content than keeping your teeth clean.

[00:01:56] But it can also be a form of making meaning which doesn't have to be religious or spiritual.

[00:02:02] For example, fireworks on certain celebratory days. It can also create or reinforce communal

[00:02:09] identity, though there are also solitary and or personal rituals. Often ritual gives structure

[00:02:16] and meaning to the unimaginable and it could also include humor which can help one to bear

[00:02:20] the unbearable. So we're going to keep these points in mind as we describe each ritual

[00:02:27] and weave in the following questions. What is the design of the ritual?

[00:02:32] What is the intent of the ritual? What is the outcome? And particularly, what does it tell us

[00:02:39] about the culture and the individuals in the culture?

[00:02:43] So we're going to take a quick break now and when we come back, we'll bring you the meat

[00:02:47] or the tofu for our vegan and vegetarian business without the quail sauce.

[00:02:59] Welcome back. We're going to review the ritual elements that we saw in this fourth episode,

[00:03:04] but to aid our listeners' memories, we'll begin each section with a synopsis of events.

[00:03:09] Please note, we are doing full-on spoilers throughout these episodes. If that isn't

[00:03:15] what you want, go and binge the entire season and then come back and join us.

[00:03:19] Okay, Miriam, do you want to give us our first synopsis?

[00:03:22] Indeed I shall. In a dream, Miriam leads the blessing of the children, where mothers bring

[00:03:30] their infants in to receive their names and be blessed by their monarch. Instead, they are

[00:03:36] all overwhelmed by a massive wave sweeping over the land and smashing directly into the court.

[00:03:42] Miriam awakens as one of her servants opens the curtains and proclaims that it is a perfect

[00:03:47] day. Well, so what rituals do we get here? Well, we have the blessing of the children

[00:03:55] in which only the mothers and the babies are present as well as the monarch, in this case,

[00:03:59] of course, Miriam. But I have some questions because this turns out to be a dream. And so

[00:04:06] I'm wondering, is this actually a genuine ritual of Numanor? I always took it as being

[00:04:12] a genuine ritual simply because it seems like something that she's totally comfortable with.

[00:04:19] So this is probably something that does happen on a regular basis. And then of course, we get pulled

[00:04:25] out at the moment when she turns to the great big open window and she sees the wave coming in.

[00:04:31] So I've always read it as being a totally natural and ordinary thing to be going on,

[00:04:38] something that doesn't disturb her in the least until we get the wave. I don't know, what do you

[00:04:43] think? Well, for a long time, I just assumed that it was a regular procedure for them. As you say,

[00:04:50] it all looks quite comfortable. And it's interesting to my mind that it's just the mothers

[00:04:55] and the babies. Yes. There are no fathers present or second mothers or single parents,

[00:05:04] right? Right. Beautifully dressed, very formal occasion and lovely to see Miriam take the first

[00:05:13] child tenderly and ask the mother what name has been given to this child. So it's sort of a

[00:05:17] combination. It's almost like a baptism really in a way, a welcoming into the community,

[00:05:24] as well as recognizing and acknowledging the individual identity of this new being.

[00:05:32] And then there's the rumble of the earthquake and

[00:05:36] myriall kind of riffs and says, well, sometimes our island kingdom needs to stretch a little

[00:05:40] to grow just like you will stretch it. So smoothing it over, making sure that nobody's

[00:05:45] worried about it. And then of course, you start hearing screams and water noises and whatever.

[00:05:50] And you think, okay. And it was an interesting moment because those of us who know the

[00:05:57] full story of human or thought, wait a minute. It's too soon. It's about to happen now.

[00:06:06] So I'm not entirely sure that I can answer one way or the other. I think it probably is a regular

[00:06:13] event who knows how often or how frequently they have new babies to be blessed in human or,

[00:06:19] but it definitely doesn't end in the usual fashion. No, it does seem to me to be because

[00:06:26] you mentioned how it's only women and babies. It does seem to be a very female space

[00:06:32] that they have created this ritual in that perhaps there is a deliberate exclusion

[00:06:38] of anybody outside of this female space. But this is a coming together of women who have

[00:06:45] given birth and it is their moment in which to present the baby to the queen.

[00:06:53] Of course, what I think we should also notice is that these are clearly women of a certain status.

[00:06:59] I think so. Yeah. I think so. It doesn't look like your ordinary woman out on the street is able

[00:07:05] to partake of this ritual because they really do look like women of a high status. Yeah, and maybe

[00:07:10] that nobody kneels anew in order, but that doesn't mean that you get to have your baby

[00:07:13] blessed by the monarch. Yes. Well, maybe they have separate things going on for those women who

[00:07:20] knows, but yes, this does look like something for the particular people. But who else in Numanot

[00:07:26] would be qualified to offer a blessing? There are no priests. No. There are no clergy. No,

[00:07:33] but that doesn't mean to say there aren't matriarchal figures. Okay, I can buy into that.

[00:07:39] I mean, obviously, I'm just riffing off the top of my head here. Well, of course,

[00:07:43] we're supposing, but we're supposing based upon the information that we've seen and think.

[00:07:48] I could picture heads of guilds, women heads of guilds perhaps or the wives of guild masters.

[00:07:57] Yeah, there's a lot of possibilities there. And of course, when the monarch is a male, a man,

[00:08:04] it would have to be presumably his wife, not necessarily a ruling queen, but still the queen.

[00:08:12] Right. Four lines of high degree.

[00:08:14] The majority of the monarchs have been male. There are some females. That's right.

[00:08:20] And Calime onwards, but relatively few.

[00:08:26] Anything else we want to say about this before we move on?

[00:08:29] No, I just think it's well worth noting. I'm glad you picked this one out. It's

[00:08:33] well worth noting that this definitely seems to me anyway, to be a moment that is

[00:08:40] a regular celebration of the birth of children. Yeah, I really thought it was beautiful. I loved

[00:08:47] it from the very beginning. And then of course, the wave breaks in a way. Oh, well, okay.

[00:08:52] Which is a good way of demonstrating the kind of anticipatory shock

[00:08:57] that she's been living with for some time now. We don't know how long, of course.

[00:09:02] Right. Yes. And of course, I have so many other questions.

[00:09:07] Like, you know, how is it that Miriel is getting these visions? And also, apart from that,

[00:09:14] in terms of storytelling, giving the game away. I mean, yes, okay, there are plenty of us who

[00:09:20] know that there will be a wave. Yes, yes, yes. But it's an interesting choice, I think, to have it

[00:09:29] presented so early in the five seasons that we're supposed to be getting.

[00:09:35] It's kind of, it's not about the journey to the wave. It's about what's, I don't know, I suppose,

[00:09:45] I'm trying to think about this the other way around. It's not about the fact the wave happens.

[00:09:49] It's about what happens on the way to getting the wave. We know the wave is going to happen.

[00:09:54] Yeah, I got my ideas straight there by the way. It just took me a second.

[00:09:58] Right.

[00:09:58] Yes, we know that wave is going to happen. Now even those who didn't know about Numenor

[00:10:05] know that the wave is going to happen. It's just what happens in between now and then.

[00:10:11] Which is very important.

[00:10:13] Yeah, I could also see a case in which people are open to say, well, I guess it was just

[00:10:20] her bad dream. It's a classic bad dream. A lot of people had it, including Tolkien himself,

[00:10:25] of anxiety or, you know, it doesn't have to be a predicting dream. It can just be a dream.

[00:10:34] Right.

[00:10:35] So that leaves the folks who haven't seen the series before and apologies if we've just

[00:10:40] given it away to anybody.

[00:10:42] We did. What about spoilers at the start?

[00:10:46] Spoilers of all sorts.

[00:10:47] Indeed.

[00:10:49] Okay, so let's carry on with the synopsis.

[00:10:51] One of Farazan's men rouses anger in a crowd about the elf in Numenor.

[00:10:59] Farazan's son, Kemen, warns him that there's a problem and his father scorns him saying,

[00:11:05] cleverness is for men of small ambition. I'd much rather that you were wise.

[00:11:11] Farazan promises the people that the sons and daughters of the Edain are more than

[00:11:16] capable of dealing with a single elf and calls for drinks all around.

[00:11:20] E'Arian is impressed and Kemen seems depressed. He offers E'Arian some of the free wine in hopes

[00:11:27] of helping her forget her troubles, but she replies, my troubles have been too hard one to

[00:11:33] be forgotten. In court Galadriel asks Miriel to form an alliance with her to fight Sauron

[00:11:39] and restore Halbrant to the Southland throne. Miriel rejects her, saying that Numenor has

[00:11:45] chosen another path. Galadriel requests an audience with the king, but she oversteps

[00:11:51] and winds up in prison next to Halbrant. Moving to the sea, the trials for their cadets are

[00:11:57] almost finished, but Isildor once again distracted by the sight of the western shores of Numenor

[00:12:03] and the women's whispering deliberately lets go of a rope and the subsequent chaos results in

[00:12:08] both he and his two best friends being cast out of the cadets. Isildor's devastated group

[00:12:15] involved his friends and Otamo and Valendil are furious. Okay, so the only real sort of ritual-esque

[00:12:24] thing we get here is that music that's played over this, the triplet rhythms that feel like

[00:12:35] those sort of sea chantee sea dances. I suppose what this does is it plays alongside that whole

[00:12:42] the sea is always right idea. There seems to be something very ritualistic about their presence

[00:12:49] on the sea itself. And actually that really plays because of course if we think about sailing

[00:12:58] culture back at a certain time in history, I'm talking about the big sailing ships,

[00:13:04] there would have been a great deal of ritual on board some of these ships.

[00:13:09] All part of the way in which life was. So I don't know, do you think that it sort of plays

[00:13:15] alongside these ideas of sailing in history? Yeah, I think Bear is famous for his ability to

[00:13:25] take one melody and make it play for six different scenarios and I think this is an example of it

[00:13:29] because here we have the theme of Numenor and it sounds nothing like what we heard when they

[00:13:35] were sailing into port. It's on the waves, it's active, it's very focused on what the actual work is

[00:13:45] and I'm sure that there were many other rituals that they had personal private rituals. We already

[00:13:52] talked about the vow of return as being a majorly important ritual but I thought it was lovely

[00:14:01] to have that because it shifts the tone very well and an awful lot of training is also ritual,

[00:14:09] isn't it? Yes, it has to be. Repetitive, communal, intended for a particular purpose.

[00:14:19] Passed down from prior experience and knowledge. You wear special uniforms to designate your role

[00:14:27] so all of those things I think would apply there. Yeah, okay, I think we're done with that particular

[00:14:36] bit of the episode. Would you like to do the next synopsis? I would be delighted. Okay,

[00:14:42] so we're back down on the Southlands. Adondir awakes in chains facing a group of orcs. A dying

[00:14:49] orc lies on the ground and Adar approaches him as the orcs once again form a double line for

[00:14:55] him grunting respectfully. That's one of my favorite bits. Me too. Adar clearly has elven ears and

[00:15:01] features. He kneels down by the dying orc touching his brow tenderly and delivers a merciful death.

[00:15:09] The orcs chant softly and depart with the body. Now this is a wonderful moment actually

[00:15:17] and I'll be honest, this is probably the moment when I thought you know what they're

[00:15:23] going to do something interesting with this series. Yeah, and that is the relationship between Adar

[00:15:31] and the orcs in the way that they're being portrayed at this point. Yes. And I find what

[00:15:37] they've done to be really interesting, very thoughtful, very different to what we've seen

[00:15:44] in previous portrayals. Very, very different to the orcs as presented by for example the Jackson

[00:15:50] films. Yes, not only do they look different but their behavior is slightly different. Yes, of course,

[00:15:56] you know, we'll see them later on fighting and all that. But we don't see this sort of

[00:16:05] thing happening at all. And talking about orc culture is very different. Yes, very unusual,

[00:16:14] right? Yes, this is why I'm so pleased to be picking these pieces out and it demonstrates

[00:16:21] that ritual is tied to culture very tightly. And the notion of orc culture, I mean we've probably

[00:16:28] if we'd been asked to describe it, it would not involve soft chanting and bowing, respectively.

[00:16:37] I mean it's just that antithetical to what we usually think of as orcs. And it ties in nicely

[00:16:44] with the dilemma that Tolkien faced pretty much his whole life about the morality, the theological

[00:16:53] accuracy of creating a people which seemingly exist only to be killed. Yes. And are have no

[00:17:02] redeeming features which he has countered in many of his writings that nothing was able to begin with,

[00:17:09] not even Morgoth the Great foe and of course not even Sauron. So it does kind of make you stop

[00:17:18] and think, don't it? Or at least it did me. It really does. We can even put side by side this

[00:17:27] merciful death that's been dealt to this dying orc by Adar with if we go to the Lord of the Rings,

[00:17:35] the book and with that moment between Shagrat and Gorbag, we're going through the Pasa Kyrithungol

[00:17:41] and they're talking about old Uftak who was hung up to dry by, they wouldn't rescue him.

[00:17:49] Why would they? Yeah, yeah, they just left him there. Exactly. I mean a merciful death

[00:17:54] at the very least would have been to slip old Uftak some, you know, a knife or something or

[00:17:59] right and do something but they didn't. Yeah. Here what is interesting of course is that it's

[00:18:06] not another orc that's delivering the death blow. It's somebody else called Adar which has to

[00:18:13] resonate with the Elvish for father, of course. Yes. And that in itself is interesting.

[00:18:20] And it's got to bring us back to the origins of the orcs according to what we get in the Silmarillion

[00:18:30] which of course is twisted elves and Adar certainly looks like a twisted elf. But as you say,

[00:18:38] Marilyn, Tolkien struggled for the remainder of his life with how do I explain the orcs

[00:18:45] and we know that he changed his mind half a dozen times if not more because he never did come to a

[00:18:51] satisfactory conclusion about it because it didn't chime with his own beliefs. The idea of first of

[00:18:57] all the possibility of either Morgoth or Sauron being able to create because they can only twist

[00:19:05] and secondly, the idea of being able to bring into being these creatures who are

[00:19:13] literally evil from conception, who have no opportunity for redemption,

[00:19:19] who can never be good and as you say exist only to be target practice. Yes. Yes. I mean that's not

[00:19:26] something I could see him being comfortable with. It is interesting because I think it is sort of

[00:19:31] the starting point for an awful lot of you know, sword and sorcery fantasy, dungeons and dragons

[00:19:38] and so forth of the vast armies of killable creatures. Yes. And yet they have language,

[00:19:45] they have even in the Lord of the Rings which is several thousand years after this.

[00:19:50] They have language, they have groups that you instanced in the she lives layer saying yeah well

[00:19:57] let's you and I slip off together and have some good times. You know it's very difficult for

[00:20:03] a human author to write anything other than human creatures or human like creatures.

[00:20:10] And as soon as you've done that with Tolkien's Catholic views, you have created creatures who

[00:20:18] have to have some sort of redeemable essence somewhere. Yes. According to his beliefs.

[00:20:26] And so here you have an orc, an orc tenderly stroking the brow of a fallen warrior and giving him a swift

[00:20:35] death. And the other orcs are chanting Nampak Uglushar. He died honorably. Honor. I mean honor.

[00:20:46] Right. Think about that. Yeah. Think about that. Certainly not any sort of thing that anybody

[00:20:53] would else would recognize. And even now, you know, the elves, humans, dwarves, none of them could

[00:20:59] possibly think of an orc I don't think as having honor. No. Because the assumption is immediately

[00:21:06] that they don't, that they can't possibly because it's not in them. Yeah. And you can see that

[00:21:11] Avrandir who was witnessing all this is totally got smacked. I mean bad enough that he's

[00:21:17] awakened up from being whacked on the head. He's unpleasant enough. His whole world is turned

[00:21:22] upside down. Because he notices, well I'm jumping ahead of myself here. Well he noticed, I'll just

[00:21:29] say right now, he notices things about a dog that completely astonish him and confuse him.

[00:21:36] But what I'm getting from this is a culture that cares deeply for themselves and each other,

[00:21:44] though not for anybody else outside their culture, and who have this father figure who they literally

[00:21:52] call father to look up to, to honor, to respect, to turn to. It's just, it's really remarkable.

[00:22:04] It's really remarkable. Oh and I should say that I got that translation from the Tolkien forum.

[00:22:10] Right. He died honorably. And of course Nampak we'll see in the future which is death basically.

[00:22:20] So okay well I will continue with this synopsis because this is actually a very interesting

[00:22:30] scene. Like I said, this is the one that made me go, hmm maybe anyway. Avrandir is astounded to

[00:22:37] be addressed in Kenya. Adar remembers Beleriand and says, you've been told so many lies that even

[00:22:44] the rocks and the roots now believe them. To untangle them from all that would require the creation

[00:22:49] of a new world. But that is only something that the gods can do and I am no god at least not yet.

[00:22:57] He sends Avrandir with a message back to Bronwyn's people. Now I got a little twitchy when

[00:23:03] he started talking about gods because gods really anyway. I'm gonna leave that there perhaps that's

[00:23:10] a discussion for another time but that did maybe twitch a little bit. I don't know, I think

[00:23:19] if you pause it, I mean he remembers Beleriand, he speaks Quenya, he has elven-shaped ears.

[00:23:26] I could definitely see a scenario in which he was one of the very early elves who knew about the

[00:23:35] Valar. Who aren't gods? I know they're not. No that's, no that I'm just using, I see god as a sort

[00:23:42] of a stand-in for a word. Yeah fair enough and it's probably a shorthand for Payne and McKay.

[00:23:47] How else do you explain the Valar? And who knows if they've been given permission to use the

[00:23:51] word Valar. Well yeah also a very good point. There may be some limitation there. Well the Valar

[00:23:59] are mentioned in the appendices of the Lord of the Rings aren't they? Well that's true,

[00:24:04] that's true so they would have but anyway possibly anyway I will carry on. I think it's

[00:24:09] a shorthand. Yeah I think you're probably right okay I'll carry on with the synopsis then.

[00:24:14] In Os Tirith it's become clear that there's not enough food. Theo goes back to the village

[00:24:19] with his friend Rowan to find more food but Rowan deserts him when clouds cover the sun

[00:24:24] and Theo has to fend off an orc with his sword hilt and hide in a well overnight.

[00:24:30] So meanwhile Keller Brinboar thinks that Durin is hiding something so Elrond goes back to Khazad

[00:24:36] Doom. He tries to get information from Deesa about Durin's whereabouts and she claims he's far

[00:24:42] away. On his way out he spots Deesa and Durin talking together and with his elven sight can

[00:24:47] read their lips and see that in fact Durin is mining close by in an old shaft. He goes there

[00:24:53] and confronts Durin who demands of him an oath of secrecy hand to the mountain to which Elrond swears

[00:25:00] on the memory of his father anything you tell me here will end in my ears alone. Durin tells him

[00:25:07] Deesa discovered Mithril but King Durin has been restricting all their efforts to probe further

[00:25:12] because it is perilous to mine. There's a sudden rockfall and Durin races into the cloud of dust

[00:25:19] to rescue the four dwarves who are in there. Well we definitely have some ritual here Marillyn.

[00:25:25] Absolutely and talk about immediate confirmation you know he says it's perilous to mine and then

[00:25:32] yeah we didn't have to wait long for that one. No we didn't. Yes Prince Durin calls for Elrond

[00:25:37] to swear the oath of hand to the mountain to keep silence on all that is spoken now and if this

[00:25:44] oath is broken it will doom you and your kin to sorrow. Oh dun dun dun. Now my first thought is

[00:25:51] yeah well they're already there right? Tell me that there's not been a life of sorrow up to

[00:25:56] this point on Middle Earth but also very joyful but it is interesting you know

[00:26:03] the showrunners choosing particular words and what led them to include that little tag

[00:26:11] to the oath. I mean you know you might make a case that for some people

[00:26:15] you swear an oath and you swear an oath and there doesn't need to be any if you don't do this then

[00:26:21] this because they believe that you know once you sworn an oath that's it you know your honor

[00:26:29] your sense of yourself your sense of connection with the other person all of that would demand

[00:26:36] that you not break the oath that you just swore. True. For the dwarfs you know truth and consequences

[00:26:43] I guess. I guess so yeah yeah of course the thing is that we do know that Elrond will

[00:26:55] in the rest of his life go through huge amounts of sorrow. Of course. First Calabrian and then of

[00:27:03] course losing Arwen forever so there is that and of course there are the but there's the fate

[00:27:11] of Calabrimbo no spoilers but it ain't great folks. No it's not pretty it's definitely not pretty.

[00:27:16] No and you know Gilgalad also gets the pointy end of the stick. See what I did there. Oh yeah

[00:27:26] definitely see what you did there. Yeah. I'm sure it kind of burned him.

[00:27:33] But yeah I mean we do know that this is going to end up at the battle against Sauron

[00:27:41] in the Last Alliance and there will be great sorrow and great death and all of that kind of thing

[00:27:47] but you know to what extent was that going to happen anyway because Sauron's already here

[00:27:52] spoiler alert. Right. And and to what extent is it because of a broken oath?

[00:28:02] That that's the thing with these kinds of prophecies and statements of if this then that

[00:28:09] that the reality is life is full of sorrow. Yes. One's life is filled with many different

[00:28:17] sorrowful events as well as the joyful ones so this sort of specific doom you and your kin

[00:28:27] to sorrow I mean it sounds kind of more like Morgoth and his curse on Huron and his family

[00:28:34] now that's being doomed to sorrow. Yes. I'm going to tell you. Oh that's pretty thorough. And exceeds

[00:28:41] what sorrow I think one might expect to have in a lifetime at least in my view. Yes. I also find

[00:28:48] it interesting you know for Durin the sacred aspect of it is the rock the mountain hand to

[00:28:56] the mountain hand to rock and that is the most sacred oath he even tells us you know this

[00:29:02] is our most sacred oath for Elrond the most sacred thing he can swear on is the memory of his father

[00:29:11] not his father himself but the memory of his father. Yes. Why do you think he makes that distinction?

[00:29:19] Because that memory is the last thing he really has of his father and it is ultimately precious

[00:29:25] to him would be my answer to that. His father is long lost at this point long long gone father

[00:29:34] and mother of course. Right. And brother. And brother yes yes indeed and brother poor old Elrond

[00:29:42] he's been through a bit already. I would say doom to sorrow yeah check. Yes. What else have you got?

[00:29:49] Yeah. I think that I would read this as he holds that memory close can't hold a father close he's

[00:30:00] gone but you can hold that memory close and he was also only a very young child when his father left

[00:30:09] if you like. Yeah. So the memories will be very very precious indeed. Yeah. And just to sort of

[00:30:19] project forward go forward thousands of years and Elrond the council of Elrond is the one that tells

[00:30:25] so much of the law because Elrond is a repository of memory he's been around for so long and somehow

[00:30:33] he seems to have an unlimited memory bank. You know, he's in there. Wouldn't that be nice?

[00:30:41] Right. I can barely remember what happened yesterday. But Elrond he holds memories for

[00:30:48] literal thousands of years. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I think memory is important to him.

[00:30:55] Yes. This memory is part of that whole thing and whether or not it's joyful or sorrowful

[00:31:01] it is precious to him. One might even say it is sacred whereas he knows his father

[00:31:09] astonishing as he was was human elf elf human whatever word you want you know I don't like

[00:31:18] the half and half term that starts with a P that's out of my memory right now. Listeners right in

[00:31:24] and the notion that he would swear on his father rather than the memory of his father also seems

[00:31:33] to tell me that you know I know my dad's not a god. You know it's usually the Valor or

[00:31:40] you know Elrond or someone like that on whom one would swear although let us point out that this

[00:31:46] is not advisable and again Elrond knows this better than most because of the Othefeanor.

[00:31:54] And he later evokes that in Lord of the Rings. This is something the Prandtine Pony podcast

[00:31:59] pointed out and it's just have my jaw on the floor Elrond is the one who's telling Dur not

[00:32:04] Dori Gimli. No swearing an oath may not strengthen a quaking heart it may break it

[00:32:13] and he lived with the exact consequences of that. Indeed. So oaths and Elrond you know they're

[00:32:25] they're more than just a casual promise and he knows this and we'll see subsequent episodes

[00:32:33] how very important it is to him and so to swear on that which is the most precious thing to him

[00:32:40] is an equivalent oath to Doran's swearing on the rock and I love the way we see this contrast of

[00:32:48] cultures. Yes. In this one simple ritual of swearing an oath as opposed to yeah I promise.

[00:32:59] Yeah. No yeah so just that one simple thing so much.

[00:33:06] So I think we've pardon the pun. Mind that as much as we can yes. Yes you knew where I was going.

[00:33:19] It's all right folks I'll be here all week.

[00:33:23] So would you like to read our next synopsis? Yes I'll continue this next bit. Okay so

[00:33:30] meanwhile back on Númenor jailed together Halbrand advises Galadriel to identify the thing

[00:33:37] that her opponent most fears and then give them a means of mastering it so that she can master them.

[00:33:44] She realizes that it's the king in the tower who she needs to see but Miriel is afraid to let

[00:33:50] her do so and Escort arrives to take Galadriel back to the docks to send her to Middle-earth.

[00:33:56] She overcomes all of the soldiers well of course she does hello tosses them into her former cell

[00:34:01] which is funny and escapes Halbrand prevents Farazon from pulling his sword on her and tells

[00:34:07] him where Galadriel is going because of course he does. Gee thanks Halbrand you know I this was

[00:34:14] the time when I first said to myself oh dear oh dear this just sounds too much like Sauron

[00:34:24] and I really hope it's because he worked for Sauron was his personal assistant you know I was not fond of

[00:34:31] the Halbrande Sauron notion at that time but I've gotten over it you know I've had therapy I'm fine

[00:34:38] now. Oh okay so long as you're good okay I'm good yes talk your way through the problem always

[00:34:46] good to do that but yeah I mean Halbrand shows himself here to be a manipulator to the

[00:34:53] degree I mean that's red flags all over the place right yeah yeah yeah because she jumps to the first

[00:35:00] conclusion of you know find out what your enemy fears and then you know shove it in their face whatever

[00:35:05] he said no no no no no show them how to overcome it and then you've mastered them just yeah yeah

[00:35:13] slightly terrifying slightly so Galadriel makes her way to the top of the tower

[00:35:20] only to be confronted by Miriel who tells her that there is a garrison waiting to escort her to

[00:35:24] her ship and Galadriel realizes how brand has betrayed her she's chastened by the king's condition

[00:35:31] and asks Miriel why she's not following in his footsteps Miriel shows her a plantier which shows

[00:35:37] the great wave destroying all and tells her that the portent of an elf coming to Numenor

[00:35:42] is the beginning of that event. Galadriel says that it could well be that by not supporting

[00:35:48] her Miriel will cause the downfall but Miriel refuses to change her mind.

[00:35:54] So here we see the source of the great wave image that we saw in the very opening of the episode

[00:36:01] yeah and it's made clear that this is something that Miriel has been living with ever since her

[00:36:06] father was forced into exile yes because it was that night that he showed it to her.

[00:36:11] Right yeah so now we've had these visions of the wave they've shared these visions

[00:36:22] and it's where they go from here isn't it because they both have different perspectives

[00:36:27] on the problem Miriel thinks that the best way to protect Numenor is to get the elf off the

[00:36:32] island whereas Galadriel thinks that the best way to protect the entire world is to

[00:36:38] put Halbrand back on his throne oops oops. Now do you think that there is anything ritualistic about

[00:36:45] looking to the palantir? Oh yes I think so I mean the whole idea of looking into the

[00:36:55] plantier it's not like you know picking up your cell phone and dialing somebody it doesn't work

[00:36:59] like that I think you have to really kind of give yourself over to the vision that the

[00:37:05] palantir gives you and it's quite a gift to be given these visions. It doesn't mean you've got

[00:37:13] to pass some kind of test before you can I mean we'll see later on that other people can access

[00:37:19] the palantir yeah right but still I think that there is maybe personal ritual rather than

[00:37:27] communal ritual about it yes it's about you know giving your mind over in some ways to accept the

[00:37:35] vision. Interesting yeah see this is I kind of bumped on this for a while because my understanding

[00:37:43] of the palantir was just it was used as a communication device and I think there's only

[00:37:49] one time in one sentence it says that people could see visions as well as communicate

[00:37:54] and so I said oh okay fine um because I did actually think of them more like cell phones you know

[00:38:01] hyped up cell phones and whatnot and they kept the kingdoms together and and so on this is mostly

[00:38:07] from Lord of the Rings for those who might not have read that yet but um they've definitely

[00:38:13] chosen to really emphasize the vision aspect and at this point as far as we know play down

[00:38:23] the communication aspect although Mirreal does know that there are other palantir and she says

[00:38:28] but where they are none can say well is it they don't say because they don't want to say

[00:38:34] and are they still communicating in some fashion with them so

[00:38:39] interesting yeah exactly I'll be interested to see where this goes from here

[00:38:44] so I can carry on if you like absolutely yes at night Theo tries to escape

[00:38:50] he is rescued by the unexpected appearance of Elrondir and they both leave for the forest

[00:38:56] chased by orc arrows Bronwyn joins them and they manage to escape into the rising sun

[00:39:03] the music transitions beautifully to Disa singing to the rocks pleading for the lives

[00:39:10] of the trapped miners afterwards she thanks Elrond for having been there saying that it

[00:39:17] may have saved Durnan's life she apologizes for having lied to him and Elrond says that she did

[00:39:23] so out of love for her husband and so there was nothing else to remember this is one of my favorite

[00:39:30] moments of the entire season absolutely incredible breathtaking I mean you've got that chase through

[00:39:37] the forest which is scary you know they do that really well it's terrifying yes they do

[00:39:41] and then the three of them burst out of the forest into the sunlight the music is rising behind them

[00:39:48] and then it transitions into Disa's singing it's bemer query what are you

[00:39:55] glorious absolutely glorious piece of music and the transition from the music into the singing

[00:40:03] is just insane it's so good it's just you don't know what's happening you're you're utterly

[00:40:10] utterly bewildered but it is so beautiful it really is and then when we go down into the

[00:40:17] mine and we see what Disa is doing oh boy this this is just astonishing there are moments from

[00:40:26] this season that stick in my mind and this is absolutely one of them yes it's beautiful

[00:40:33] and it's compelling and you feel her communication with the stone with the rock around her yes yes oh

[00:40:42] my goodness it is just glorious yes yes Disa sings to the rocks imploring them to return the bodies of

[00:40:49] the trapped miners with the breath still in them and that imploring is palpable yeah because she

[00:40:58] she's not mastering the rocks not telling them what to do no she's pleading yes pleading yeah

[00:41:05] asking for this gift and it's it's not a solo song either you have a double line facing

[00:41:14] inwards of both men and women dwarves and that all of them their hair is unbound

[00:41:20] and they're holding lights and they're singing pedal tones you know that the low register

[00:41:27] of a chord as a sort of almost a drone aspect while Disa is doing this amazing vocalization

[00:41:37] which reminded me of the black and african tradition called the moans which is this

[00:41:43] wordless singing and it can appear over a blues or a gospel song it can appear in a lot of different

[00:41:54] instances from the african-american tradition of which i know almost nothing so i really hope

[00:42:01] there are listeners who can write in and tell us some more about this and see tell us and

[00:42:06] particularly me if you think that this is a fair connection or not i would love that yes

[00:42:11] this is what came to my mind and there are other dwarves watching present almost in a sense holding

[00:42:20] the whole thing but not necessarily actually singing it and then there are drums because of

[00:42:24] course dwarves almost always seem to need drums and but used in this incredibly beautiful way

[00:42:31] and there's a fireplace and they're all holding lanterns so there is light but Disa

[00:42:35] herself is standing in a shaft of light so one of those famous lighting systems that they have you

[00:42:43] know in has a boom and it's glory and she's she'll lift up her hands and as this goes on we hear the

[00:42:54] mountain rumble and we see it's almost like it's on the side this sort of flat part of the

[00:43:01] rock and then there's a standing up part behind in the wall and so forth we actually see the seams

[00:43:07] shift and it looks like they're leaking some kind of moisture it's almost as if the mountain is weeping

[00:43:14] in response to the the pleading and the the the fear and the grief that may come

[00:43:23] and i didn't notice that the first time i watched it so if if listeners don't know what

[00:43:28] i'm talking about go back and watch that scene again it's really it's really quite a why would you

[00:43:33] not want to watch that scene again because hello yeah and so at the end of the ceremony and Elrond is

[00:43:40] there too and that really fascinated me that they would allow an elf to be present to this ritual

[00:43:47] which has got to be so vulnerable right and um a powerful expression of their culture and

[00:43:56] they're allowing this this person from another race as they consider it to be present that speaks

[00:44:03] to me of their recognition of his relationship to Elrond and i can just see D.S. is saying don't

[00:44:08] you dare tell him to leave he's standing right who's in charge right here right i have your crown

[00:44:17] princess as it were yeah i mean this this is a sacred moment she's communing with the rock

[00:44:24] and you're right to have somebody from outside even allowed to see this yeah is extraordinary

[00:44:31] i think so i think so and of course Elrond had been so fascinated when D.S. was explaining to him at

[00:44:36] their dinner how she sounds to the rocks when they're mining and he expresses this interest

[00:44:45] and say that it sounds wonderful and i don't even remember if he says i'd love to see it someday

[00:44:50] but that undercurrent i think is there in that scene and so now here he is witnessing it at last

[00:44:58] and it ends with Prince Doran coming to say that all of the miners have been removed from the shaft

[00:45:02] alive so it really is just an amazing amazing scene and i like one of the things that shows me

[00:45:15] the doors are very musical people yes yes you're right in this in this rendition which

[00:45:23] one might not have thought before yeah a good point okay do you want to finish off that synopsis

[00:45:31] sure Doran is furious that his father has decided to seal off the entire mine

[00:45:39] Elrond responds to Doran's rage by saying that he wishes that he could hear just one more word

[00:45:45] from his father even if it were only in criticism he tells Doran not to waste what time he has left

[00:45:54] Doran goes to apologize to the king and the king tells him that there is nothing to forgive

[00:46:00] that he is always with him even in anger perhaps especially in anger

[00:46:04] his father also tells him that their people believe that when a new dwarf king is crowned

[00:46:10] the voices of all his forebears flow into him sharing with him their counsel and their wisdom

[00:46:17] even their mistakes he tells his son that quote ever i am with you even in anger perhaps especially

[00:46:25] perhaps especially in anger well that moment of him saying when a new king of the dwarves is crowned

[00:46:34] all the wisdom of all previous kings enter into the newly crowned king you can imagine that as being

[00:46:42] part of the ritual of crowning the new king yes that this is a moment when all the dwarves who

[00:46:48] are there witnessing the coronation will believe that into the body of the new king

[00:46:56] has is flowing at that moment all of the experience and spirit and everything else

[00:47:03] of the previous kings that came before um we don't i mean it's not like they've told us about oh

[00:47:10] and this is what happens at a coronation but you know we can envision this as being a part of

[00:47:15] the belief system that lies behind the coronation and we've recently witnessed a coronation

[00:47:24] over your neck of the woods and i almost think that this description of the wisdom flowing in

[00:47:32] is not dissimilar to the moment of consecration yes that you're receiving

[00:47:39] the blessing if you will of that which they find most sacred i hope i'm not offending anybody by

[00:47:45] saying this because i realized that the consecration is a sacred act i feel that this is sacred to the

[00:47:54] dwarves in a very similar way yeah i would say so i mean it calls back to if you're talking

[00:48:00] about the coronation of a british monarch it calls back to the whole concept of the divine

[00:48:07] right of kings that the the monarch was you know chosen by god and therefore god is actually

[00:48:17] putting them in this place and god is always on their side possibly asking the wrong person here

[00:48:24] because i'm a committed republican i dislike the entire existence of the royal family here in the

[00:48:31] uk but that's no secret to anyone who knows me but you're right there is a sense of the sacred

[00:48:39] happening within a coronation because there is always the involvement of somebody extremely high

[00:48:46] up in the church the artificial bachan debris etc etc because it has to be somebody like that

[00:48:55] who puts the crown on the head because it's the connection between the christian god obviously

[00:49:01] and the monarch being crowned it's it's um symbolizing god actually being the one who is ordaining

[00:49:12] that this person is the monarch right that that priestly function which i realize in contemporary

[00:49:18] times is probably not you know focused on very much by most folks but what i see here is for the

[00:49:27] dwarves it is their ancestors that make sacred right the new monarch by flowing down into him in or her

[00:49:40] well i guess it's always him with the with the doors um although disa might have something to say

[00:49:44] about that we'll see yes yes queen disa would definitely have something to say about it disa

[00:49:52] right at any rate that's that's what i was thinking of when i when i heard him talk about this and

[00:49:58] i can't remember the exact language shift but the language shifts from king to father yes

[00:50:08] which i find very touching and moving in fact there's a lot of father son stuff in this episode

[00:50:16] yes starting with adar and the orcs yeah yeah and you have elendil and isilor and uh

[00:50:24] you know here we have the two dorans so shall we wrap it up with the final synopsis final synopsis

[00:50:35] then doran tells his father that through elrond gilgallad has invited him to dinner at lindon

[00:50:43] the king asks what his intuition tells him doran responds that elrond has said there was no

[00:50:48] ill intent from gilgallad but his intuition says that there is something more at work

[00:50:55] the king affirms this praises his son and tells him to go to lindon and find out what

[00:51:02] then back at austirith brahnwin thanks elrondir for saving theo who replies that he has a message

[00:51:10] from adar they must swear fealty to him or they will be destroyed by the orcs

[00:51:16] meanwhile off in the corner wal dreg tells theo that he knows that theo has his sword held

[00:51:24] he hints a little bit at what it is and encourages theo to save his strength through

[00:51:28] the coming of the beautiful servant and then finally back in numinor as galadriel walks toward

[00:51:36] the tender that will take her to the ship for middle earth petals from the white tree begin to fall

[00:51:43] elendil and myriel know what this means and we hear the theme of the faithful starting up

[00:51:48] with the guitar again which i associate with elendil so myriel summons her people to court

[00:51:55] and declares her intention to escort galadriel back to the southlands herself to aid them in

[00:52:01] their fight against the orcs in the court and across the city volunteers are sought for a

[00:52:07] cavalry to support their queen isildur on tanamo and valendil all step forward

[00:52:16] very dramatic ending very moving ending i mean i i you know as a quaker i don't think much of war

[00:52:23] but what i see in this is the willingness of a people to risk their lives in support of their monarch

[00:52:33] and their nation if you will their country there are other people and uh you know seeing all those

[00:52:39] people sticking their hands up and saying sure i'll risk death in battle um you know there is

[00:52:45] there is something honorable in that however you might feel about violence or killing people

[00:52:49] mm yeah it's going to be interesting to see how we go from that kind of feeling

[00:52:56] to the kind of numinal that is going to get drowned by the wave i know i know there's just

[00:53:03] there's going to be a lot of compression or else a lot left out yes yeah we knew that there

[00:53:10] would kind of have to be one there now what i'm wondering is do you think that there is

[00:53:14] some ritual involved in seeking the volunteers or is this the first time that they have requested

[00:53:22] armies to go fight somewhere because who would they be fighting well let's remember by this point

[00:53:29] in the history of numinal that um this is not a great point in the history of numinal if we

[00:53:34] look at tolkien's own writings because they've already started their imperialist notions

[00:53:40] um not only have they established outposts on the shores of middle earth all the way up and down

[00:53:49] but they've also started uh taking what they want um and enslaving people now we're not seeing this

[00:53:58] in numinal yet exactly so we don't know if this is something that they're actually going to

[00:54:04] bring in in the show or um if this is something that will suddenly be introduced and it will be

[00:54:09] part of oh and this is why numinal's going to sink don't know but if we go by what tolkien has written

[00:54:17] then no this is definitely not the first time they've had to put together a bunch of soldiers

[00:54:22] because you don't subjugate the locals by saying hi have a hotdog you know you've actually got to

[00:54:29] go in there and start waving a sword around yeah to terrify them uh which of course is what

[00:54:34] we know did happen they terrified the people along the coast um yes so yeah i don't think this is the

[00:54:40] first time at all yeah they became colonizers and both in terms of land and in terms of goods

[00:54:48] and as you say eventually once sauron was in running things in terms of of slaves and victims and

[00:54:54] so forth yes yeah but if that's the case why are they still at a stage of needing to seek

[00:55:03] volunteers why isn't there already a standing army in the way that there's a standing sea

[00:55:09] guard excellent question and who are the sea guards defending us against i mean maybe pirates but

[00:55:16] it's a long way for the pirates to sail by the way it surely is it surely is and um how you know

[00:55:24] supposedly numinal is so much more developed in terms of technology and all the rest of it

[00:55:29] than anyone else do they need a really extensive seaguard it sure seems like they've been around

[00:55:35] for a while they have rituals unquestionably it's very clear um but here they are you know asking

[00:55:42] people to stick their hands in the air um and i don't know i just i get a sense that you know

[00:55:49] this is a new thing how much do the new minorities train on their own i mean we will see some

[00:55:55] training in subsequent episodes but you know they do manage to find some armor somewhere so i mean it

[00:56:01] it's just it's mildly confusing to me i mean it's a very dramatic moment of course and i still appreciate

[00:56:08] you know the willingness of citizens to defend their queen um but it just i don't know it's

[00:56:15] it's a little odd and i mean maybe they made up a new ritual on the spot you can certainly do

[00:56:20] that but the whole thing about calling for volunteers and you know people raising their

[00:56:25] hands and and that kind of thing um it seemed more spontaneous than ritualistic to me somehow

[00:56:31] i agree so what can we conclude from the rituals we've come across in today's episode

[00:56:39] well there's the astonishment of orcs and their rituals yes uh definitely deeper sense of dwarves

[00:56:48] yes but it seemed like most of well a large chunk of what we talked about today where we're a couple of

[00:56:56] dwarves rituals and what they represented and again highlighting the differences between their culture

[00:57:02] in this series and what we've seen in other series and i really like that yeah i really

[00:57:08] like that a lot there's still you know there's still the fiery people who scream at each other

[00:57:14] kind of thing but um there's there's tenderness and artistry of more than just carving stone

[00:57:23] you know that singing was melting yes like the the rock itself was melting that was what the

[00:57:31] scene that looked like water was all about yeah i think what we've got from the rituals

[00:57:38] from this episode is it has drawn us further into our understanding as ritual does as witnessing

[00:57:45] rituals will do um of the cultures within middle earth we're getting um greater picture of who they are

[00:57:54] it's a really good way of telling us a lot about these individual cultures is to show us

[00:58:00] some of the rituals that they have um and they can be a real shortcut to meaning because of that

[00:58:06] yes yes watching the the the dwarves and what they're doing watching that moment with adar

[00:58:14] killing the orc tells us so much about these cultures without them having to say and by the way

[00:58:20] this is something that we do yeah yeah yes i think small s sacred yes rather than capital s

[00:58:28] sacred yeah you know tell me what is sacred to you and i'll know a lot about you as a person

[00:58:34] but if you tell me that this is a communal event then i'll know a lot about your culture

[00:58:39] which is why i think we'll be seeing fewer rituals as we go along through the episodes

[00:58:43] because they don't need to anymore they don't need to they've established their foundation and

[00:58:47] they're moving along to to tell their story okay so i think we've covered everything i think

[00:58:55] well everything that we found perhaps other people will write in and tell us well what about

[00:58:59] this which would be great it would be great but i think we do have some feedback and speaking of

[00:59:04] feedback yes we do indeed have some feedback and we will get to it right after a quick break

[00:59:16] welcome back before we share our feedback today we have a clarification to offer

[00:59:21] in commenting on the appearance of the veiled elvish women in lindon we alluded to the

[00:59:26] connection with the show runners religious beliefs several online sources have indicated that

[00:59:30] jd pain is a member of the Mormon church while some Mormon women are named as sisters the term

[00:59:36] generally refers to those women who are recognized as missionaries there's little indication of any

[00:59:42] of the usual behaviors of nuns in this role and at this point we don't know the case religious

[00:59:47] affiliation if any so um just wanted to put that bit of expansive expanded knowledge in there

[00:59:55] thanks for that marlin sure thing so let's get to the messages that we receive from several

[01:00:00] listeners now just remember because of our timing for recording and releasing episodes this week's

[01:00:05] feedback pertains to episode one a shadow from the past sorrow will you get us started sure

[01:00:11] oh one of my favorite people bonnie madame from the ppp she says loved it my favorite bit was

[01:00:17] what you and sarah or me and you uh said about the female servants dressed in white on the ship

[01:00:23] taking the elves back to valinor they creeped me out yeah you me bows bonnie yeah not the only

[01:00:29] one uh for elisa from the lore hounds says loving the first episode ritual talk i also couldn't

[01:00:36] believe the producers made those nuns serving elves totally not Tolkien and rather ridiculous

[01:00:42] and blh h brit from ppp said absolutely loved it talking about galadriel and her unfinished

[01:00:49] business was fantastic when you consider it in the full context of her story how it ends with

[01:00:54] her leaving for valinor paralleling a traditional ghost story where she can't move on to the next

[01:00:59] plane of existence until her business is concluded that's a really great point by the way isn't that

[01:01:04] wonderful i really like that a lot brit thanks for bringing that up and the uh the feedback finishes

[01:01:10] loved the episode looking forward to the next yay then we have eris who said simply but nicely

[01:01:18] i really enjoyed it thank you eris you were glad you did thanks for actually getting in touch to

[01:01:23] let us know we do appreciate that indeed and then somebody was my favorite usernames

[01:01:29] two kds two dgs uh from the lore hounds borovian broadcasting network said hi marilyn and sarah

[01:01:36] hi two kids do dogs hello i rewatched episode one of the series in preparation to listen

[01:01:41] to your podcast so glad i did because as you were talking i was able to so clearly remember the

[01:01:46] scenes uh i agree with you that the veils were over the top reminded me of the silent sisters in game

[01:01:51] of thrones yes i remember seeing that but i definitely didn't see them as servants all the elves have

[01:01:57] different jobs or skills some are warriors some are speech writers some are smiths i saw these women

[01:02:02] as those drawn to the service of preparing people and then accompanying them back to valinor

[01:02:07] for them it would be a sacred calling sacred with a small s as right you've been using marilyn

[01:02:13] but then you mentioned that they're also in a later episode standing behind a table

[01:02:17] if they cleared the dishes then i will definitely stand corrected good point stay tuned yeah also

[01:02:24] in the scene of the boat going to valinor i thought they were actually hearing the music of valinor

[01:02:28] that it wasn't just background score it made the scene with the clouds opening that much

[01:02:32] more impactful for me they were experiencing the return through sight and sound yeah i love that

[01:02:37] and i agree that part of the ritual returning was to discard the armor and weapons of middle earth

[01:02:42] yes definitely and i think too that they were hearing the music in other words it was

[01:02:48] diagetic and so if if we said anything to imply otherwise then apologies because it

[01:02:54] wasn't speaking clearly so that's it for this episode right in and let us know what you think

[01:03:00] any suggestions you might have for rituals for us to talk about and anything else you'd like

[01:03:04] to share with us we welcome your feedback at rings and rituals at the lorehounds.com

[01:03:09] or on the lorehounds discord server where we have a special channel set up just for rings and rituals

[01:03:14] now on the lorehounds website there's also a contact form and a voicemail feature look for

[01:03:19] the contact us link at the bottom of the page we're aiming to publish two episodes a month

[01:03:23] but if you follow any of the lorehounds podcast you'll hear our ads and they'll let you

[01:03:27] know when the next episode is approaching also be sure to check out the other podcast

[01:03:32] supported by the Barovian Barocasting Network that's properly Howard Movie Review with Stephen

[01:03:37] Anthony Wool Shift Dust with Alicia and of course John and David on the main lorehounds podcast

[01:03:43] links for all of these are also in the show notes now our thanks to our recording engineer

[01:03:47] and editor Bob to David and John our producers and to John for arranging our theme music as

[01:03:52] well as all the others who support us along the way if you would like to support us and

[01:03:57] the podcast rate and review us on your podcatcher of choice although i understand that apple is

[01:04:03] particularly fine or find us on patreon at patreon.com slash the lorehounds subscribers will get

[01:04:10] access to ad free versions of all the podcasts as well as many other benefits until next time

[01:04:16] then remember beauty has great power to heal the soul however farewell for now