Barrow-downs
19
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8
EPISODES
8
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Search complete. 19 mentions across 8 episodes found for "Barrow-downs".
Sep 21, 2026
Matthias AustinHOST
Colbert, seen as one of the biggest Tolkien fans out there, appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel late-night talk show and revealed that as big of a fan that he is, his son Peter is an even bigger one.
Matthias AustinHOST
There is, as of yet, no release date for the film, which is meant to fill in the six chapters of The Fellowship of the Ring that were omitted in the Peter Jackson films, including The Old Forest, In the House of Tom Bombadil, and Fog on the Barrow Downs.
Matthias AustinHOST
In Rings of Power news, there has been leaked script pages from the first episode of the upcoming new season, but since I've been trying to avoid spoilers for myself, I haven't read them.
Matthias AustinHOST
But if you're interested in looking them up, hey, Google away.
Kathryn NicolaiHOST
And in the four chapters we'll be discussing today, chapters five through eight of book one, Frodo will finally leave the Shire, but he'll only get as far as the nearby town of Bree.
Kathryn NicolaiHOST
Frodo and his friends will face many obstacles, including the Old Forest and the Barrow Downs, and they'll meet some unexpected friends tom bombadil and his wife goldberry but do any of these things actually matter that is in the context of the full plot of the lord of the rings Does it matter that Frodo and his friends, Sam, Pippin, and Merry overcame these obstacles or made these friends? And as someone who has read the book many times, I can tell you that the answer is no.
Kathryn NicolaiHOST
No, it doesn't matter.
Kathryn NicolaiHOST
In fact, we could ask this question of the entire section of The Fellowship of the Ring that we'll be discussing today.
Kathryn NicolaiHOST
Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry spend a comfortable and happy period of time in Tom and Goldberry's house, but they know that they can't stay there forever.
Kathryn NicolaiHOST
When they decide it's time to leave, Tom is happy to give them advice and, importantly, a song they can use to call him again if they run into trouble, which Of course, they do.
Kathryn NicolaiHOST
In chapter eight, Fog on the Barrow Downs, the hobbits once again find themselves in a life or death situation.
Kathryn NicolaiHOST
When a heavy fog descends, they lose their way and accidentally end up in the one place they were trying to avoid, the Barrow Downs.
HunterHOST
Um, versus-
BarryHOST
... that he got from the Barrow-downs, was made by the people of Arnor
HunterHOST
...
HunterHOST
Yeah, from the Barrow-downs, which is missing-
BarryHOST
Mm-hmm
HunterHOST
... [laughs] from the movie.
HunterHOST
Minor one, but, um, I, I get why they changed that.
HunterHOST
If they have...
Jino Jang-HansenHOST
Tom Bombadil saves them.
Jino Jang-HansenHOST
Then they go into the Barrow Downs.
Jino Jang-HansenHOST
And they fight...
Jino Jang-HansenHOST
Evil old skeleton man.
Paul AldHOST
I guess that was – maybe that wasn't dumb, but basically they lost all interest in talking to me after that, which I don't blame them because they were like in their 20s.
Paul AldHOST
yes that was a weird experience but i felt like i wanted to talk to it i felt like i wanted to talk about it on the pod so there you have it i finally finished fellowship of the ring today that book took me like three months sadly i just i've been dawdling with it this one i've been taking notes which is kind of interesting i think i started taking notes on this one because the book is a lot different than the movie and i feel like i want to document that sort of i'm not going to get into all the gory details but basically a lot happens in the book that doesn't happen in the movie and And it's a lot of interesting stuff, like the Barrow Downs episode or chapter, Tom Bombadil.
Paul AldHOST
And then the ending is kind of like way different than the movie because the timeline just seems...
Paul AldHOST
Like it's out of place.
RobertHOST
Such wickedness was an abomination, but that was Sauron.
RobertHOST
And what is more, he seems to have taught the foul practices he knew to some of his own followers, in particular the Witch-King, who sent his own foul spirits that he had captured to the Barrow-Downs, where they became known as the Barrow-Whites.
RobertHOST
Sauron wasn't just a necromancer.
RobertHOST
He was the master of necromancers.
Corey OlsenHOST
The house of Tom Bombadil, of course, is famously not holy without mystery, but it's of a very different kind, right? And then right after that, they leave the house and they...
Corey OlsenHOST
Where do they go? Right straight to the Barrow Downs, right? Back into, you know, this dark and dangerous...
Corey OlsenHOST
You know, once more back out into the landscape that is dark, dangerous, and full of spells, right? Tom Bombadil, of course, is not disenchanting by no means in the same way.
Corey OlsenHOST
That's why I agree with Fencing Frog that he's almost like an anti-Tom Bombadil.
Corey OlsenHOST
Um, so there's a bit of an interlude, but all of it is still, it's just one little episode in the midst of this one trajectory.
Corey OlsenHOST
Whereas...
Corey OlsenHOST
the kind of break um i don't mean break as in pause or you know like a snack break or a smoking break i mean like a break is in a severing right um like one story is happening they're in one world they're having one kind of experience and then wham it ends and they're brought into like a totally different place that operates on like totally different rules and And then they leave it again and then wham, they're back into the new thing, into the Barrow Downs.
Corey OlsenHOST
And so that's why more than and again, he just acts more like Tom Bombadil.
speaker_0HOST
Now fast forward thousands of years to the events of the Lord of the Rings.
speaker_0HOST
Merry, the hobbit, gets trapped in the Barrow Downs by a Barrow-white, and while he is trapped in this trance, Merry seemingly inherits the dying memory of that exact Prince of Karbalin.
speaker_1HOST
It's so eerie.
speaker_1HOST
Merry wakes up from the trance disoriented and says, Of course I remember.
speaker_0HOST
Let's talk about these Barrow Whites, because this is where the Witch King's title as a sorcerer truly shines.
speaker_0HOST
What exactly did he do to this land?
speaker_1HOST
Well, the Barrow Downs were the sacred ancient burial mounds of the Kings of Men.
speaker_1HOST
The Witch King didn't just defeat the armies of Cardolan, he actively polluted their sacred geography.