Not Another F**king Elf: A Lord of the Rings Character Guide

Shadowfax, Lord of Horses

That is one of the Mearas! Unless my eyes are cheated by some spell? He is the Lord of all horses: Shadowfax, the world’s greatest hovercraft inspo. Gandalf’s equine BFF discussed for over an hour? Sure, why not - it’s the tenth and last episode of the first series of Not Another Elf!
Every week in this podcast, Paul Ridd and Catherine Bray look at a character’s place in Tolkien’s mythos, their place in pop culture, literature and adaptations. We look at Peter Jackson’s adaptations, Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings (1978), the 1979 Mind’s Eye radio adaptation, Return of the King (1980) from Rankin-Bass, the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation, and the 1990 Rob Inglis and 2020 Andy Serkis audiobooks. 
The podcast will return for more in-depth Lord of the Rings character analysis in series 2. Subscribe so you don’t miss out.

Eowyn, Shieldmaiden of Rohan

Shieldmaiden of the Mark, White Lady of Rohan, Lady of Ithilien - and certainly not a dry-nurse. In episode nine of in-depth Lord of the Rings character guide Not Another F**king Elf, we're saluting Eowyn, aka Dernhelm, hero of the Battle of Pelennor Fields.
Every week in this podcast, Paul Ridd and Catherine Bray look at a character’s place in Tolkien’s mythos, their place in pop culture, literature and adaptations. We look at Peter Jackson’s adaptations, Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings (1978), the 1979 Mind’s Eye radio adaptation, Return of the King (1980) from Rankin-Bass, the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation, and the 1990 Rob Inglis and 2020 Andy Serkis audiobooks.

Merry Brandybuck

Pipeweed aficionado, squire to a king, ringleader of a conspiracy... it can only be the one and only Meriadoc Brandybuck. In this week's episode of in-depth Lord of the Rings character guide Not Another F**king Elf, we're going back to the Old Forest to assess Merry's leadership skills, and Paul remembers an old Radio 4 sitcom called Stockport, So Good They Named It Once. 
Every week in this podcast, Paul Ridd and Catherine Bray look at a character’s place in Tolkien’s mythos, their place in pop culture, literature and adaptations. We look at Peter Jackson’s adaptations, Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings (1978), the 1979 Mind’s Eye radio adaptation, Return of the King (1980) from Rankin-Bass, the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation, and the 1990 Rob Inglis and 2020 Andy Serkis audiobooks.

Theoden, Lord of the Mark

I know your face... it's Theoden Horsemaster, King of Rohan, Lord of the Mark. In this week's episode of in-depth Lord of the Rings character guide Not Another F**king Elf, we're asking where the f**k was Gondor when the Westfold fell?
Every week in this podcast, Paul Ridd and Catherine Bray look at a character’s place in Tolkien’s mythos, their place in pop culture, literature and adaptations. We look at Peter Jackson’s adaptations, Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings (1978), the 1979 Mind’s Eye radio adaptation, Return of the King (1980) from Rankin-Bass, the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation, and the 1990 Rob Inglis and 2020 Andy Serkis audiobooks.

Saruman of Many Colours

He’s the bad boy of the wizarding world! He’s Darkside Gandalf! He’s Saruman of Many Colours, and he is fabulous. We're summoning the forces of Isengard in this week's episode of in-depth Lord of the Rings character guide Not Another F**king Elf, where every week, Paul Ridd and Catherine Bray look at a character’s place in Tolkien’s mythos, their place in pop culture, literature and adaptations. We look at Peter Jackson’s adaptations, Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings (1978), the 1979 Mind’s Eye radio adaptation, Return of the King (1980) from Rankin-Bass, the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation, and the 1990 Rob Inglis and 2020 Andy Serkis audiobooks.

Bombadil

Ho! Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo! By water, wood and hill, by the reed and willow! He may not have made it into the films, but he sure made it into our podcast. But what is he? Hobbit saviour Tom Bombadil takes centre stage for this week's episode of in-depth Lord of the Rings character guide Not Another F**king Elf.Every week, Paul Ridd and Catherine Bray look at a character’s place in Tolkien’s mythos, their place in pop culture, literature and adaptations. We look at Peter Jackson’s adaptations, Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings (1978), the 1979 Mind’s Eye radio adaptation, Return of the King (1980) from Rankin-Bass, the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation, and the 1990 Rob Inglis and 2020 Andy Serkis audiobooks.

Legolas Greenleaf, of the woodland realm

They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard! With legendary line deliveries from Orlando Bloom, voicework from C-3PO and the best skincare regime in the game, one of the oldest members of the fellowship takes centre stage in this week's episode. Legolas Greenleaf is our focus for this week's episode of in-depth Lord of the Rings character guide Not Another F**king Elf.Every week, Paul Ridd and Catherine Bray look at a character’s place in Tolkien’s mythos, their place in pop culture, literature and adaptations. We look at Peter Jackson’s adaptations, Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings (1978), the 1979 Mind’s Eye radio adaptation, Return of the King (1980) from Rankin-Bass, the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation, and the 1990 Rob Inglis and 2020 Andy Serkis audiobooks.

Bilbo Baggins, Legend of the Shire

And after all, why not? Why shouldn't he keep it? This week, Paul and Catherine are looking at Bilbo Baggins, in all his forms, from Orson Bean to Ian Holm. Tolkien's most meta-textual character? Leonard Nimoy's greatest inspiration? All this and more in the latest episode of this in-depth Lord of the Rings character guide podcast. Every week, Paul Ridd and Catherine Bray look at a character’s place in Tolkien’s mythos, their place in pop culture, literature and adaptations. We look at Peter Jackson’s adaptations, Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings (1978), the 1979 Mind’s Eye radio adaptation, Return of the King (1980) from Rankin-Bass, the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation, and the 1990 Rob Inglis and 2020 Andy Serkis audiobooks.

Boromir, Man of Gondor

One does not simply walk into pop culture history. This week, Paul and Catherine are looking at Boromir, man of Gondor, in all his forms, from Michael Graham Cox to Sean Bean. Why is Bigwig from Watership Down the Boromir of Rabbits? Who is the People's Boromir? All this and more in the latest episode of this in-depth Lord of the Rings character guide podcast. 
Every week, Paul Ridd and Catherine Bray look at a character’s place in Tolkien’s mythos, their place in pop culture, literature and adaptations. We look at Peter Jackson’s adaptations, Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings (1978), the 1979 Mind’s Eye radio adaptation, Return of the King (1980) from Rankin-Bass, the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation, and the 1990 Rob Inglis and 2020 Andy Serkis audiobooks.

Gollum

This episode: who is Gollum? Why do we actually kinda like him? Who played Gollum most effectively: Brother Theodore, Peter Woodthorpe, Andy Serkis - or someone else? And why is Gollum Donald Trump?
Not Another F**King Elf is the Lord of the Rings character guide podcast that brings you an hour's deep dive into each of your favourite Lord of the Rings characters, with clips from all the different adaptations of Lord of the Rings from movies to audiobooks to radio adaptations, discussion of that character's place in J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium and wider pop culture influences. It WILL contain spoilers for The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion and associated works. We'll also kick off the episode with a recap of the character arc of the character we're looking at this episode, so if you love Lord of the Rings but it's been a while since your last trip to Middle Earth, relax, we've got you. Hosted by a couple of Lord of the Rings nerds intent on escaping their film industry day jobs for a bit and journeying deep into the world of The Lord of the Rings.
PLUS! Every episode wraps with our competitive game, The Page Off, where we try to guess which page of the Lord of the Rings a random quote appears on.
Why are you called Not Another F**king Elf?
Thanks for asking. We are called Not Another F**king Elf as a tribute to J.R.R. Tolkien's friend Hugo Dyson, who reportedly said this when listening to another passage of Tolkien's latest work read out at the informal literary/drinking society The Inklings. We do actually love elves, personally.
How many episodes will there be?
In theory there is an almost inexhaustible number of characters, so get ready for weeks and weeks of sweet, sweet discourse. (Series one will be ten weeks long and cover ten characters from The Lord of the Rings.)
Are you in any way affiliated with the Tolkien Estate or other licensed producers of Tolkien-related material?
We are an absolutely unofficial, fan-made, independent, DIY podcast that is not in any way affiliated with any official source of Tolkien-related ephemera and exists as a work of criticism, analysis and deep fandom.