Mythgard's Exploring The Lord of the Rings

Session 325: The Beginning of the Last Day

·1 hr 40 min·5 clips

Dr. Corey Olsen reveals they're nearing the end of a chapter and one of Tolkien's two major writing breaks in The Lord of the Rings.

The class opens with bookkeeping. Session 325 sits close to the end of the chapter, with the host counting slides while also looking ahead to Tolkien's writing pause and the coming Bridge of Khazad-dûm chapter. Close, yes. Finished, not quite. The host keeps tapping the brakes, because three slides can still mean three classes, and the actual bridge is still out ahead. Then Boromir's assumptions start doing real work. The main move is to picture Boromir as someone trained by Denethor, and by long habit, to distrust Mithrandir. That changes the feel of the earlier scenes. In that light, Boromir's resistance at Rivendell and after is more than a disagreement about what should be done with the Ring. It is suspicion of Gandalf's authority arriving before the argument even starts. The host keeps the reading narrow. He is tracing Boromir's mindset, not claiming to know exactly what would happen, especially when Boromir might feel honor-bound to bring the matter back to Denethor inside Gondor. Listener comments help shape that point. Aranas's suggestion about getting a second opinion from Denethor lands cleanly, because for Boromir that would look responsible, not shady. The Council gets another pass, too. If Gandalf and Elrond seemed to be running the meeting, with Gandalf honored and influential, Boromir's prior bias would tint the whole room. The episode builds its case slowly instead of making Boromir's later choices feel sudden. Family formation, duty, and mistrust of outside counsel all get linked together. Moria waits in the background. Near the end, the class turns toward the chamber and possible exploration to the south, still thinking through lit fires, chapel significance, and where settlers might focus care. It closes in the usual classroom way: thanks, next week's schedule, Florida afterward, and the feeling of a patient reading inching toward a big hinge.

As heard by us

A patient reading of how Denethor's influence may color Boromir's view of Gandalf.

Session 325 centers on Boromir's resistance to Gandalf, weighing whether that suspicion has been shaped by an anti-Gandalf bias absorbed from Denethor.

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Why you'd press play

When Denethor's distrust of Mithrandir adds a new tint to Boromir's resistance.

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