Sauron Defeated
Starting in May 2019, Mythgard Academy will offer a free 13-week discussion series on Sauron Defeated, the ninth volume in the History of Middle-earth (HoME) series and the fourth and final volume of The History of The Lord of the Rings. (Note that it has also been published under the title The End of the Third Age.)
This seminar will put us at 3/4ths of the way done with our trek through the HoME series. We’ve previously looked at The Book of Lost Tales, Part I, The Book of Lost Tales, Part II, The Lays of Beleriand, The Shaping of Middle-earth, The Lost Road, The Return of the Shadow, The Treason of Isengard and – about this time last year – The War of the Ring.
Sauron Defeated was first released in January 1992, about two years after its predecessor. The first part of the book concludes Christopher Tolkien’s presentation of the development of The Lord of the Rings. In Part 2, the focus shifts to one of Tolkien’s stories that doesn’t primarily concern Middle-earth, The Notion Club Papers, though as we will see, there are still some ties to the legendarium. Finally, Part 3 examines The Drowning of Anadûnê.
The History of Middle-earth, Volume 9 is available from Amazon.
A Message from Dr. Corey Olsen
Mythgard Academy programs make literary studies of science fiction and fantasy stories free for everyone who wishes to attend. Live conversations happen weekly, and the recordings of those sessions are posted to the Signum University YouTube channel.
The donors of Signum University make the Mythgard Academy possible through their generous donations. As a perk, those who donate also get to nominate and vote on the books that we study in these sessions. The Council of the Wise is quite fond of The History of Middle-earth series, but in recent seminars we have also examined Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke.
Sauron Defeated is our first new book of 2018, and we will be choosing others in the upcoming months. Many other incredible books have been nominated by the Council in the past but have not yet been chosen. If you would like to help pick the books we cover for the rest of the year, see our annual fund page and donate to support these free literary discussions!
– Dr. Corey Olsen
Schedule
Sauron Defeated will meet on Wednesdays at 10 pm Eastern Time
Part 1: The End of the Third Age
Week 1: On the End and Its Beginning
Read: Chapters I – II (pp. 3 – 30)
Date: May 15, 2019
Week 2: The Path Clearly Seen
Read: Chapters III – VI (pp. 31 – 60)
Date: May 29, 2019
Week 3: Feeling Out the Homeward Path
Read: Chapters VII – VIII (pp. 61 – 78)
Date: June 5, 2019
Week 4: Frodo Gets His Glory
Read: Chapter IX (pp. 79 – 107)
Date: June 19, 2019
Week 5: Keeping it Real
Read: Chapters X – Appendix (pp. 108 – 141)
Date: July 10, 2019
Week 6: The Sigh and Murmur of the Sea
Read: Part 1, up to Night 61 (pp. 145 – 173)
Date: July 17, 2019
Part 2: The Notion Club Papers
Week 7: Welcome to the PseudoInklings
Read: Part 1, through the end (pp. 173 – 222)
Date: July 24, 2019
Week 8: Building a Better Travel Machine
Read: Part 2, up to Night 69 (222 – 260)
Date: July 31, 2019
Week 9: On Relationship with Languages and Stories
Read: Part 2, through the end (pp. 260 – 299)
Date: August 21, 2019
Week 10: A Misunderstood Man
Read: Major Divergences, etc. (pp. 299 – 327)
Attend: August 28, 2019
Week 11: The Atlantis Myth Explodes
Read: (i) – (ii) (pp. 331 – 356)
Date: September 4, 2019
Week 12: Ancillary Myths
Read: (iii) – (iv) (pp. 357 – 396)
Date: September 11, 2019
Week 13
Read: (v) – (vi) (pp. 397 – 440)
Date: September 18, 2019
Week 14: The End of the Notion Club
Date: September 25, 2019
Part 3: The Drowning of Anadûnê
Week 15: A New View of the Old World
Date: October 2, 2019
Week 16: Myths Reconsidered
Date: October 9, 2019
Week 17: The End of the Numenor Story
Date: October 16, 2019
Artwork for Sauron Defeated
The artwork for Sauron Defeated was adapted from The Shadow of Sauron by Ted Nasmith. Used with permission.