"The Fall of Númenor" Interview with editor Brian Sibley
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ต.ค. 2024
- Today, we chat with Brian Sibley, the editor of the new Tolkien book "The Fall of Númenor", which assembles for the first time all of J.R.R. Tolkien's writings on the Second Age. Brian has taken all of these Tolkien writings and placed them in chronological order according to Tolkien's own Tale of Years in The Lord of the Rings appendices.
Order The Fall of Númenor: amzn.to/3h30jey
Deluxe Edition: tinyurl.com/32...
Audiobook: amzn.to/3Undnd2
#fallofnumenor #tolkien #numenor
God bless, my body is 76 yrs old and I've been a Tolkien aficionado for 65 years since it was 1st read to me by my aunt. I grew up walking and riding under the stars of the southern hemisphere where my father was an astronomer. Tolkien and his legendarium has in some ways always been my polestar and touchstone to both my spirituality and grounding in material reality. Thank you for your contribution.
The last interview was superb. Such a nice guy with a ton of hands on experience within the Tolkien world.
Brian talking about these topics leaves me enthralled with the conversation, since as far back when I first stuck in the Lord of The Rings Trilogy extended edition appendices, he's always struck me as a very learnéd man and very enjoyable to listen to. Great guest to have. Well Done and thank you Mr Sibley!
ICYMI from the early days of the channel, check out my interview with Brian where we dive deep into his writing of the 1981 BBC Radio Dramatization of The Lord of the Rings: th-cam.com/video/VwuBLHSQpbE/w-d-xo.html
Glad to see Mr. Sibley smiling and in good health. I remember seeing him talk passionately in the making ofs for several Disney movies, like The Jungle Book and Pinocchio. Glad to see he’s still got the same energy when talking about Lord of the Rings.
This is an incredible interview - brilliant! Brian is so knowledgeable and insightful! In particular, for me not that many people publicly consider how Tolkien's deep-rooted faith may have impacted his work and its overarching themes (beyond the old allegory question, which is long-settled by Tolkien himself). Fascinating to hear two Tolkien experts talk so widely and deeply!
An authors view of what their work is, is no more definitive than anybody elses. Shakespeare wrote some commentaries on his plays, nobody cares or even reads them. There are most certainly ASPECTS of Tolkiens work that are clear allegories. In literature there is no simply saying 'this book is an allegory about'. Nobody writes like that except morality plays that were SPECIFICALLY written as allegories. An allegory doesn't 'necessarily' mean a 'moral' or a simple analogy.
Sibley will always be the guy who made the best LotR adaptation.
1000 times yes
The bbc radio adaptation in 13 episodes was near perfection.
Absolutely correct.
Well done, Matt. Half the art of being a good interviewer is to get an interesting person to interview. The other half is to shut up and let him speak. You've done both. Brian Sibley sounds like he knows his matter and his spirit, and that Tolkien's texts are in good hands. Looking forward to receiving this for Christmas.
EDIT: I was mistaken in believing that Timothy West had passed. He is still very much alive! Apologies to everyone. I truly don't know who I was confusing him with in that moment.
The Fall of Númenor is available NOW!
Regular Edition: amzn.to/3h30jey
Deluxe Edition: tinyurl.com/32vxm475
Audiobook: amzn.to/3Undnd2
Brian Sibleys radio play got me into Tolkien 40 years ago,. thank you for many years of joy.
One of the great. Thank you Matt and Mr. Brian Sibley. Wonderful.
I‘m looking forward to this. Thank you for doing this. Great channel.
It’s so nice how much you two seem to enjoy talking to each other, feels natural!
Amazing interview. The understanding of Brian has about Tolkien was partly mindblowing. I especially liked his point about the big battle not ending on the battle field but at home, with your closest people and within yourself.
Excellent interview. Thanks for the excellent videos and thoughts, Matt! In particular, I appreciate your friendliness and balanced approach to these videos. You're obviously a superfan (like myself), but also definitely an objective expert on this stuff, and (most importantly) you remain just a nice guy about it all. That's nice to see. I always get excited every time you release a new video.
I still have his Lord of the Rings map on my wall and his radio play on CD. Ian Holm was the perfect Frodo and then the perfect casting for Bilbo in the movies. Thanks Brian.
Ganfalf was the perfect Frodo? Confusion of da highest orda.
@@davidhimmelfahrt3732 , Ian Holm was Bilbo in the films and Frodo in the radio drama when he was younger. Gandalf is Ian Mckellen in the movie. Brian Sibley wrote the radio play.
Brian Sibleys radio dramatisation is an absolute favourite. I've heard it several times and just bought The Fall of Númenor. He's a great contributor to this wonderful universe. Also Thank you Matt for your work and putting together this interview.
This was lovely! I bought the audio book on November 10, and have been reading and enjoying it. I'm a huge fan of the BBC production of The Lord of the Rings. In my opinion, it's the best adaptation, and that's not only because I'm blind! Blessings.
Love!
I really love this book, its actually helping me write my own fantasy world.
Can't wait to hear it! Fantastic that you got him to come on the channel for a second time!
Will you be doing any more interviews with people from PJ's LOTR? (Or is that classified information? 😉)
Ah! Time will tell. 😁
@@NerdoftheRings I will be waiting in eager anticipation! 😊
Wonderful interview. What a guy! - you could listen to him all day.
What a lovely, charming gent Brian is. Great interview, Matt. Loved it start to finish. It’s wonderful that you comfortably sit back and let Brian show us his expertise without forcing questions the way so many interviewers do. You have a great rapport with Brian, you can tell he really enjoyed this conversation.
Great having Brian back again!
I love your content, it has really helped me understand Tolkien’s world. Could pls do a video on Dain iron foot 🙂
Great chat! Ordered my copy today. Hopefully it arrives next week.
I read The Silmarillion upon paperback release US. Discovered a certain role playing game soon after. Still read Tolkien, still running that world.
This was a great interview! I really appreciate that you are able to bring a voice to the creative side of Tolkien's works. I also appreciate how....tactful Mr. Sibley was when describing his thoughts on RoP. I don't quite share his enthusiastic sentiment, but I appreciate that he can find the good in things. And I like how he did call out some on the janky script writing as well.
I'm really looking forward to diving in to his book!!
Would agree about Brian being such a gentleman after ROP really fucked him over.
1:03:10 - LOL, you were about to tell Brian that Tolkien's later writings have the blue wizards arriving in the 2nd age, but then you decided to let him talk. I can see that took some restraint, lol.
I caught that too, made me chuckle
Haha! You bet that’s exactly what happened! 😂
This channel is great! It changed my life, and influenced me to read more
Alan Lee did the cover art? Awesome, he's a very talented artist let alone all of his Tolkien work.
He also did a lot of new art for this book akin to The Great Tales books.
Lee pretty much did all of the new cover art for the Chris Tolkien edits of JRRT's work in the past decade including Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien, Fall of Gondolin, and various others unrelated to Tolkien's own writings such as The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, and The Fall of Arthur.
@@mnomadvfx Actually I love the style of recent Tolkien editions with artwork by Alan Lee and Ted Nasmith (an artist I enjoy a little bit more for being more different from the films).
He did the art throughout the book.
Just finished watching the stream and I'll need to add the book to my reading list. I'm slacking but I'll catch up. Keep up the great work Matt!
Great interview! Can't wait to pick up a copy of the book. Also - after watching (and re-watching) the LOTR films DVD appendices over the years, hearing Brian Sibley's voice again is like listening to an old friend! 😂
Pre-ordered my copy some time ago and it came in the mail yesterday :D
I'm intrigued about the Rings Of Power series he is talking about. It shares the title with a show I have seen but his description of positive sides sounds different.
I just got the book, which I ordered June 23rd. It was originally supposed to arrive with the launch of Rings of Power! Then, it was delayed until yesterday November 15th....Well after Rings of Power had finished. Hmmmmmm. I can honestly say this book is the single GOOD thing that has come from Rings of Power. I can well understand why Rings of Power fired Sibley from consulting. He actually cares about what Tolkien wrote unlike the people behind Rings of Power. And, evidently, unlike the people now controlling the Tolkien estate. Yes, I went there.
The Ringed City in Dark Souls 3 is a clear inspiration of Numenor
Per Wikipedia: A BBC Radio 5 series The Hobbit radio drama is an 15 part adaptation abridged by Brian Sibley, produced by Dickon Reed and read by Michael Hordern, first broadcast Monday 6th Jan 1992, 19:15 on Radio 5. Transmitted again on 4th Mar 1997 00:30, for BBC Radio 4 The Late Book.
Are there any indications that this version is to be released at some point?
I've often wondered why the BBC didn't do a second audio adaptation of The Hobbit after the success of the Sibley LOTR - the 1968 one is a bit wobbly, though has its moments.
Good work Brian Sibley 👏
There are great data of the 2nd age in the Unfinished Tales. Hopefully this next book will talk about the Numenoreans and their dealings with the men of Eriador, and how they treated them according to their appearance and language. And if one reads the Silmarillion carefully, it is mentioned there that the Numenoreans warred for centuries with the Haradrim. Certainly there is a lot of colonialism and imperialism in the 2nd age. I don't say it, it's what the books say, and I hope that "The Fall of Númenor" will not overlooked that information.
Sweet! Hope it’s as long as the last interview😂 I took a week off work to listen to that one.
Haha! Not as long as the last one, but still a substantial length!
@Dm_NerdoftheRings-on-Bestgram Stop trying to spam me you moron. Reported.
Just ordered the book today. Looking forward to it.
This was a great interview, am VERY interested to get my mitts on this book to read it. I do hope that there will be extra versions of the Mariner's Wife, expanded references to Elros and also a bit more information about the later Numenorean kings such as Tar-Atanamir.
I just bought the book online while listening to this interview. Thanks for all of the content! You are my first stop on TH-cam.
I cannot wait to read this! Well, actually….I guess that I am getting to the age that when I read for an hour I start to fall asleep no matter what the material is about. I will get the audio addition first and then the book itself. Audios are great but I need a hard copy for reference.
Definitely getting this for Christmas
Wonderful interview! One small point: Sam West’s father, Timothy West, is still very much alive. ☺️
He is a bit too generous to Rings of Power, and too apologetic about his criticism, but I appreciate his criticism that is there.
Question, was this book supposed to be the Estate's way of making sure people realised that this is the real story and not whatever the Amazon show was going to produce? Or was it just coincidence that they cover the same time frame of the Legendarium? I ask because it definitely seems that way. Whether it is or not, I'm glad this palette cleanser has come out at this precise moment in time.
I'd say it was an opportunity for Harper Collins to benefit from any interest generated by the show. I think Sibley says at some point in this video that HC was the initiator of this project. It's clearly an attempt to make Tolkien's second age writings as palatable for a general audience as possible, without getting bogged down by the fragmentary nature of these writings.
You haven't listen to the interview have you. Brian mentions rings of power. Listen to the interview and listen very careful to what Brian says about the show.
@@gaebren9021 I made the comment before getting to that part of the interview :-)
@@colocolo1546 So now you know.
Adaptations are made of source material all the time. The 1979 Bakshi's Animated "Lord of the Rings" is my favorite of the Tolkien adaptations.
Like Brian said, it is great that Rings of Power was made because it instigates interest in the original source material. Brings people who may not have known Tolkien's work to his work and that is a good thing. RoP might not be lore but it is a lot of fun and a lot of people enjoyed it. And if people are drawn to Tolkien's work because of it, all the better.
@@gaebren9021 Sure, if you want to go with "no publicity is bad publicity". If people pick up the books due to RoP, then good, but now there is also an additional book that might also attract new readers, and I find that to be even better.
I loved this book! I've already read it one time through!
I'm really looking forward to being able to buy and read this book at some point!
My copy just arrived 🎉
I have the day off for this too! Very excited after getting caught up on some of your previous interviews. Gonna enjoy this with my coffee and a smoke.
Is this novel more like the story based novels (Lord Of the Rings, Silmarillion Children Of Húrin) or more like the History of Middle Earth series.
There is a tempest in me to to buy the book, which I won't resist
Honestly it was really refreshing to see an Tolkien Scholar be chill about Rings of Power and yet not fully side with it like a few others. (Cory Olson to an Point.)
One thing Brian Sibley is right about Rings of Power is it does convey the look and image of Tolkien's cultures and while it mostly doesn't deliver there's still
a few redeeming things in it like Elrond and Durin's relationship. That being said Episode 6 still Scarred me! I feel like I got hit by Mount Doom's eruption there.
This guy has just a couple of books in the background
This was such a lovely interview. Fascinating to hear an artist such as Brian's perspective from living with Middle Earth for 50 years and how it relates to all other things mythology/story/etc. So much to learn from these experienced people
Loved the chat. Brian is always worth listening to. Of course, you are too😆
Also, I had to check that Timothy West hadn’t passed away without me hearing about it.
Just picked up my copy, fresh from the trolley not even on the shelves yet. Department store is super busy with the rest of Christmas decorating. Thanks Brian for the interview and "Nerd of the Rings" for the video.
Great interview. A very interesting guy.
I really struggled to square the mithril thing.
It could possibly have worked if they had been a little more intelligent with it and presented it as one of Sauron's manipulations/deciets. That would have at least been in rapport with Tolkein's writings.
The way they used it was just too contrary for me.
So, with this book being out, should I start with the Hobbit, LOTR, and the Silmarillion, or?
Start with the Hobbit.
What's with all these wannabe Saurons down in the comments trying to spread misinformation and discontent? 🙄
Looking forward to the book, and can't wait to see all the new illustrations. It's so convenient having all this info in one place instead of scattered across various books.
This could have lasted two hours. Wonderful interview. Thank you!
P.S. I need that mug 😊
Seems to be the best 'new' Tolkien book since Children of Hurin!
Mine has just arrived! Looking forward to reading this
Looks like I’ve found another present for my husband this christmas.
A week late, but it's always a pleasure to hear Brian Sibley talk Tolkien!
Finally, a sound mind on the current edition! 😩
What a sweet man! Totally love him
He’s such a nice guy. I love chatting with him.
@@NerdoftheRings And you’re a good interviewer! It’s always a pleasure to see nice people talking about what they love
What a gent!
Does it include the Notion Club Papers account of the fall of atlantis?
Very interesting video, although it’s hard to call it an interview when Matt only managed to ask two questions over the course of an hour. 😂
Haha. Brian makes my job incredibly easy! He answers questions before I can even ask them and always has fantastic stories. 😊
Great video
Is this content already included in the Silmarillion? Or all new non-cannon content? I get so confused as a lesser fan about what is actually official cannon. I know Christopher Tolkien edited Silmarillion (so some creative changes were needed) but it was vastly his fathers work. But then I see books of with titles similar too (I dont remember them all) Lutherine, Fall of Goldolin, Morgoths Ring and now this...what the hell are all of these and are the just stories already included in Silmarillion?
It contains some material from The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle-Earth and the Nature of Middle-Earth but that which pertains to Numenor and the Second Age of Middle-Earth.
Please interview Alan Lee
I think that Brian is wrong about the Blue Wizards not coming to ME until the Third Age? Didn't they come at the end of the Second Age, leaving your theory about Meteor Man's identity viable?
In Tolkien’s later writings they arrive around 1600 SA. I think Brian is referring to what Tolkien notes in the things published prior to those writings.
Great interview Matt, Brian is a wealth of information with his rich background in middle earth. His new book 'The Fall Of Numenor' will well be worth a read. Also finally nice of you to admit (although only with nods) that Amazons ROP is badly written and acted for the a large part of the show.
So excited
Wonderful interview. I kind of think of Alan Lee as an architect of Middle Earth. And some of the best movie companion books I have, are by Brian Sibley. My book is due to arrive on Tuesday. I remember when the LOTR was VERY difficult to even get; in the U.S. And now, we have so many editions and all of these different versions of this resource material. And a big thank you to Matt, for just nudging the interview along and letting Mr. Sibley run with it.
Brian adapted Mervyn Peake's 'Titus Groan' and 'Gormenghast' for Radio 4 in 1981, and then returned to Peake's writings in 2011 with 'The History of Titus Groan' - six one-hour plays for BBC based on 'Titus Groan', 'Gormenghast', 'Titus Alone' and Maeve Gilmore's 'Titus Awakes'. I loved both of these adaptations excellent castings in both occasions. I WISH Brian could go back and do the same with The Lord of the Rings and we could have a re-working/ expansion of it, Bombadil and all. Maybe Tolkie fans could do a crowd-funder and we could have an a 'REDUX'- a redux for Radio!
Always enjoy Brian Sibley (long time fan of that radio version since the 1980s, which had its own superb Gollum performance). Great interview, Matt. Very glad to know of this book. I adore Alan Lee and John Howe's illustrations so I've just ordered a copy, plus the ROP show has made me want to learn more about Numenor. Any chance of hosting Charlie Vickers for an interview?
sorry to nitpick but i think Brian made a mistake, at 40:00 isildur’s journal is in the extended version and i think it’s briefly in the original movie version as well where he says it was not hot and is his precious
For me I think it a tragedy that Toro did not make the whole Hobbit. In the early part of the first film, I thought to detect plenty of non-Jackson Tolkien. That’s, actual Tolkien. Oh well....
great interview, thanks for sharing
Great interview, Matt, thank you. Fascinating to hear two people speak who are as passionate about Tolkien's stories as I am. And you're right: the everlasting appeal of them surely comes from the trees, mountain peaks and the legends glimpsed from afar, but never quite reached. The genius of JRRT was to play into that essential human curiosity, via the beauty of language.
Anyway, I do wonder, rather impertinently: how do you get your wife to keep putting up with your extreme hobbyism? 😅
Looking forward to this.
I love a lot of Tolkien illustrators, but Alan Lee is my favorite.
Oh no, Timothy West passed away? ...Wait, Wikipedia and Google don't seem to know about this.
Excellent book, putting all the writings of the second age in one place and in a chronological order. Now do this for the first and third ages 👍🏻
Call me crazy if you will but you never know this whole world and history of Arda might of actually happened
Ordered it for my bday (thanksgiving day this year) and will read over winter break (perk of being a teacher)!
A very good interview! Well done. You reacted and responded to Brian's answers in a listening manner!. and you asked probing and non-leading, interesting questions! Nice work!
Celeborn would never go underground or with dwarves because they slew Turgon. In middle earth, people hold personal grudges and make oaths and they stick to them.
Got my copy sitting right here on my desk. Can't wait to dig in!
My copy is coming on Tuesday. Very excited! This got me even more excited.
Man, I could just listed to Brian talking for hours and hours
Fantastic book!
Timothy West is still with us (as of Nov. 11th, 2022)