A Long-expected Premiere (and Party!)

'Rings of Power' Season 2 is upon us. PLUS: gifts for all you readers for my birthday!

Mae govannen, friends!

It is somehow already August, which means a few things: it’s my birthday this week, brat girl summer is waning and the time of the orc is on the horizon, and we’re just a few short weeks from the Season 2 premiere of The Rings of Power!

Read on for:

• Rings of Power Season 2 Updates

• Gifts From Me to You for My Birthday

• History of Middle-earth Volume 3 Release Next Week, August 13

Rings of Power Season 2 Approaches

Credit: Amazon MGM Studios

The Rings of Power season 2 is upon us, and with it come some slight changes for Jokien with Tolkien that I wanted to communicate as we approach the August 29th premiere.

This all stems from a slight conundrum I was facing. You see, I publish this here newsletter on Thursdays. But each week’s new Rings of Power episode will drop on Thursday night. So if I want to talk about it here…do I wait an entire week to share my thoughts? Do I shift my publishing schedule to accommodate it? And do I talk only about ROP in the newsletter for the month-plus that season 2 is airing? Do I completely ignore it?

Here’s what I’ve settled on: from the last week of August through the first week of October, I’ll be shifting to publishing the regular weekly newsletter on Fridays.

Now this might not affect some of you all that much if you typically don’t read until Fridays or the weekends, but for all you Thursday readers, this is your heads up!

As far as how much I’ll be focusing on Rings of Power, I’ll do a mix and discuss the show in the newsletter but not to the exclusion of all other Tolkien content.

The first three episodes will drop all at once on August 29th, so that week the newsletter will likely be completely dedicated to my thoughts and reactions (and I’ll want to hear yours in the comments!).

The next five or so weeks following the premiere I’ll likely have an opening section in the newsletter on general Tolkien content that’s my usual mix of humor, analysis, essays, and more, followed by a Rings of Power recap/discussion.¹

And don’t fear! If you either actively dislike Rings of Power or just don’t care that much one way or the other, I’ll be aiming to have some short but sweet bonus, non-Rings-of-Power-related content each week (e.g. a discussion post or a short humor piece like last week’s Girlfriend Not Reciting Galadriel’s Monologue), likely on Tuesdays.

I hope that helps to clarify where Jokien with Tolkien is headed soon and how I’ll approach integrating Rings of Power content into the newsletter. I don’t know about you all, but I’m looking forward to it! So far the second season looks to be a step up in intensity, quality, and—dare I say, dare I hope—canonicity. We shall see!

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Birthday Gifts

I’m currently rereading The Fellowship of the Ring and after finishing the first few chapters I have some thoughts that are percolating. I’ll share most of them in a coming newsletter, but one thing I was reminded of in revisiting the opening chapter was the Hobbit custom of giving other people a present on your birthday.

Hobbits gave presents to other people on their own birthdays. Not very expensive ones, as a rule…but it was not a bad system. (The Fellowship of the Ring, “A Long-expected Party”)

To follow suit, I have decided to offer a range of gifts to you, dear readers, during my birthday week!

First, for anyone who hasn’t already purchased it or who subscribed before I began giving it away to new subscribers, please accept this free copy of my first e-Book, Exploring the Lore of Middle-earth, a guide and introduction to Tolkien’s published works!

Already have a copy of the above e-Book? I’d like to give you 50% off my second e-Book, Wounds that Cannot be Wholly Cured. Where the first book is a guide to Tolkien’s work in general, this one is an exploration of the themes of grief, loss, and healing in The Return of the King.

Since I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like, use code “HALFOF” to get half off!

And lastly, I’m giving a free month of Extended Edition membership to anyone and everyone who would like one! Just reply “I’d like a free month!” to this email (or email me at jrrjokien@jrrjokien.com) and I’ll happily comp you.

Doesn’t matter if you are a current paid subscriber (will be added to your subscription), a current free subscriber, just signed up yesterday, used to pay but now are just a free subscriber….everyone who wants one gets a free month!

Now, if you would like to follow the human custom of giving the birthday-haver a gift, here are a few suggestions:

• you can upgrade your subscription to a paid one (and get 20% off forever! this discount good now through Sunday, August 11th)

• purchase one of my e-books at a higher price than free or 50% off, or

• buy me a second breakfast!

All those links below. Thank you in advance for all the well-wishes and generous gestures!

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Tolkien Treasures: History of Middle-earth Boxed Set #3

In the final main section of today’s newsletter, here’s some info on the newest Tolkien release.

The third of four The History of Middle-earth hardcover box sets from publisher William Morrow releases in the US next Tuesday, August 13. Set 3 contains The Return of the Shadow, The Treason of Isengard, The War of the Ring, and Sauron Defeated (Books 6–9 of The History of Middle-earth).

I have the first two boxed sets and my copy of the third is already preordered!

If you also like to preorder this set, you can do so at:

• Amazon

• Blackwell’s

• Bookshop.org (every purchase on Bookshop financially supports independent bookstores)

To find the others too, visit my lists on Amazon or Bookshop.org:

• As Seen in Jokien with Tolkien (Amazon)

• Tolkien Treasures (Bookshop.org)

(Or just come back to these same links next week and you should be able to just order the set(s).)

That’s all for today’s Jokien with Tolkien! Thank you as always for reading and this space in your inbox and day.

Namárië

Appendices

• Excited about Rings of Power? Earlier this week, the cast did a slightly spoiler-y cover shoot with EW and preview of season 2. Here’s a photo of the cast as a preview:

  

• Special shout-out and thank you to Custler, Keely W, and Timothy R for upgrading to an Extended Edition membership this week!

  This is a reader-supported newsletter and Jokien with Tolkien: Extended Edition members help keep it coming to everyone’s inboxes week in and week out. If you too regularly get value, entertainment, encouragement, or inspiration from this newsletter, consider upgrading your subscription (it’s 20% off now through Sunday) too!

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1. All discussions of The Rings of Power that contain spoilers will be clearly labeled so you have time to watch the episode before reading if you haven’t been able to but would like to. (I know how frustrating spoilers can be!)