LOTRO Beneath Your Feet

Ruins and fog, wind and waterfalls. The Angle is a zone shrouded in history's mysteries.

Drums. Drums in the wood. What is there to be found among those wild Woses?

Yucky, blasted, captured. The Brown Lands leave a lot to be desired for tourists. But it is chock-full of mysteries and interesting bits of lore that will lead us all over this Middle-earth.

In the smouldering remains of the Black Land is the Flaming Spire: Lûghash. It is home to the Stout-axes and Mistress Zoreth. Today we learn a bit about who these dwarves are, where they come from, and the horrid tower they call home.

Where is The Lord of the Rings Online going next? Starting with Minas Tirith at Midsummer, let's take a look and see what we can surmise!

Don't forget to watch Beormen's video 

And checkout Beneath Your Feet on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/c/LOTROBeneathYourFeet

and TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@lotrobyf

Nobottle, Long Cleeve, Tighfield, and Gamwich. They're not featured on any Shire map and barely mentioned in the books. What is there to be found about these towns far from civilized and decent folk, out near the bounds? Let's discover it together.

The north of Middle-earth is in flux with many new faces coming to Bree, the Ered Luin, and the Shire. I talk with Yao of D&Co. Du Milieu about the homesteads of Eriador and decorating in LOTRO.

Beorn and his followers present a significant mystery to us reader and players. What is there to be found here in the Vales?

Don't forget to checkout Beneath Your Feet on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJapZGoMAn1i0p9EztWVdPA

We're on the road to Gundabad and the last stop is Elderslade. There we find dwarf ruins, drakes, orcs, and a whole lot of history.

Have a look at the new YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJapZGoMAn1i0p9EztWVdPA

The Ettenmoors is a tricky place to write about. Let’s turn over a few stones, sniff out a couple troll footprints and see what turns up!

Also, please join me on LOTROStream the last Tuesday of the month for fun research action.

It is, truly, an epic climb up the Cabed Rhimdath. You think you know the Misty Mountains, having been up and down them, north and south, east and west, at least a dozen times, but the old rock, erected in the long ago of the Years of the Trees, still keeps her secrets. These peaks were lifted out of the ground by Melkor, Morgoth, the original big bad, way back when as a hindrance to Orome, the Valar who went often abroad on his horse in search of the Firstborn. They’re shorter now but still menacing, still sheer and crafty, still a hindrance -- especially to us mortals!

What could there be on the other side of this foggy and wretched crag? Well, hobbits of course! It’s Lyndelby and you are listening to Beneath Your Feet.

The North Downs could have been an empty land, but the demands of game design made it a bustling and frightful place with many different factions. Does it work? Let's talk about it!

Rohan is the wide, green sea of grass...but in LOTRO it's full of folks! What do we make of this?

Pirates, a haunted mountain, the stone of Erech. What could go wrong?

Recorded from a live broadcast earlier today: Bilbo's Last Song and an excerpt from Riddles in the Dark.

Nan Curunír, the Wizard's Vale, is a place of terror. When the heroes of Rohan, with Gandalf and the remnants of the Fellowship arrive, they are greeted by a statue of the white hand, the emblem of Saruman, hideous even in its powerlessness.

Thanks for checking out these new episodes!

Between the Nimrodel and the Celebrant lies Egladil, the center of Lothlorien. Learn the history and significance of this locale and its place in the legendarium!

I am joined once again by the inimitable Alberos for a trek through the oldest of forests! We talk about the various locales and its connexion with Fangorn.

Oh, loneliest of lands. Whither would we be without you to carry us from  level 20 to 30? Tomeoric (which I sadly mispronounced on the show; it's  "toe-MAYO-rick")  joins me in a discussion of the high points of the zone, from  Weathertop to Agamaur, newbie experiences with the zone, and a few  things you may have missed along the way.

Bag End! Most desirable of hobbit holes. The home of the Bagginses is a  symbol or entry point into Middle-earth. In this episode we look at the  history of the place, its meaning and its layout. Not a bad thing to  have to all of you fall festivalers.

This special episode looks not at a region but the Great River Anduin  that flows from the far north, all the way to the sea. It's the great  vein of the West of Middle-earth and something we'll be seeing a lot of  with the coming Rohan expansion.

Gil-galad was an elven king; of him the harpers sadly sing.

This episode, another quick one, explores the beautiful elf starter area  of Falathlorn and it's connexions to the fallen kingdom of Lindon and  Gil-galad, it's former king.

Short and sweet, this episode takes a quick look at the farm of  Bamfurlong and its master, Farmer Maggot. What is his connexion to Tom  Bombadil, and why is Frodo so very afraid of him? Have a listen and find  out.

Down, down we go!

Starry, of Starry Mantle fame, comes along for a trek deep down into the  Misty Mountains, where awaits a trove of history; from Bilbo's buttons  to Gollum's cave to disco goblins and beyond. Have a listen, my lad! Ho  ho, my lad! Yeah, sorry...

Enedwaith is a big, unruly zone, so I had to call in the big, unruly  podcasting guns. Syp joins me as we explore and discuss the many, many  different areas of the 'middle waste', from its brief history as a  forestry center all the way to its involvement with the Dunlendings and  Saruman. It's a wild, wild wilderness and one that we think you will  enjoy.

There's queer folk in Buckland, or so the saying goes.

Arwen Kester joins me for a look at this odd and wonderful colony of the Shire.

We are getting closer and closer to Rohan! So with this 14th episode, I  have a look at the new(ish) Great River region, specifically the  Cuthstan a great statue erected to remind us of the friendship between  Gondor and Rohan

Far over...

I'm flying solo again in Episode 13, up and away to the Misty Mountains  cold! Join me in a brief look at what makes those Mountains one of the  great crossroads of Middle-earth.

Happy Tolkien Reading Day! 

"When  four hobbits and a ranger find their way over the Last Bridge and into  the Trollshaws they come upon a strange but familiar sight: three stone  trolls." Though these three louts are the icons of the Trollshaws, there  is a lot more to it than just Bert, Tom, and William. Merric of A  Casual Stroll to Mordor joins me as we sift through the autumn leaves  and ford-water to find out more of this zone.

Neek-breek! Breek-neek! It rings in your ears like creeping  death. The buzzing, the moisture, the stinging and biting, the ruinous  spiders and goblins All in a days work for you adventurers passing by  Midgewater Marshes. And on the far side comes sweet relief as we find  the Weather Hills and its most famousest peak, Weathertop. Have a look  around these parts with me and Chris of MMOReporter.com as we go even  further beneath your feet; like three inches worth of marshy water  further beneath.

Ah, lovely West Angmar. It's like a nuclear waste land, if Sauron had  developed the bomb. And who should join me here in this wretched land?  Why, Doc Holliday of course! Have a listen and get a better appreciation  for the lands of the Witch-king.

Ah, the tail end of the Yule Festival and all the snowballs and goodies  that come with it. In this episode I have a look at Turbine's holiday  creation and see how well it fits here in Middle-earth.

Ah, the Bridge. It's the first sight a traveler sees before crossing the  Baranduin into the Little Land. This week I have a long, hard look at  that Bridge and we see who's made it and why, and why it has everything  to do with the Shire. Enjoy!

The West Gate, Durin's Door, the Walls of Moria. For many LotRO players  it was a first step into a great beyond, as both the opening to the  alien realm of Moria and also as the games first full expansion. This  week I have a look at those walls, the story of Bosi and company, and,  of course, the Watcher in the Water.

Time to take off to that great, white North (eh?) this week on Beneath  Your Feet! I'll be exploring the permafrosted wonderland of Forochel and  see what the books have to say and how well LotRO interpreted this  frosty zone.

Goldenstar of A Casual Stroll to Mordor joined me this week for a trip  to the great lake of Eriador. The ruins of Annuminas, the remnant of  Rangers, the sheer beauty of the vista make this an amazingly scenic  zone.

I'm often concerned with the number of proper nouns I use in this show;  if you've never read the Silmarillion, it can be a problem. Who are the  Noldor? The Vanyar? The Edain? Who are the Valar? My hope is that this  episode will fill in some of those gaps for those of you less familiar  with the deeper histories of Middle-earth

Ah, Bree. That quiet crossroads of a village. This week I took a stroll  through Bree, musing on its sturdy history. Not unlike the other  episodes so far, it's hard to sift through and figure out which  information to pack into the tiny amount of allotted time.

This episode was quite difficult, as it is such a rich zone in locale  and history. I didn't want to overload anyone with a huge amount of  information and proper nouns, but I didn't want to dilute anything. I  wanted to talk about the vistas but not dwell on them. I also wanted to  talk mostly about the mountains proper, and not the lowlands included in  the same zone in LotRO (Falathlorn and the like); those are for another  episode.

Initially I thought that perhaps Hobbiton was too small a space to do a  show on but, as you might suspect, so much as a chip opened up a good  deal of information to include. It's fun to know that with almost every  bit of real estate in Middle-earth there is at least a ladle-full of  history, if not a flood.

So enjoy the first episode and join me next time for an exploration of Ered Luin, the Blue Mountains

Welcome, one and everyone, to the newest Lord of the Rings Online  podcast: Beneath Your Feet! I am starting things off with a brief pilot  episode to introduce the podcast and the contest that will get things  going.

As you listen to the pilot, my hope is that you'll understand where I am  coming from with Beneath Your Feet; it is a podcast about LotRO, but  moreover it is a podcast about Middle-earth, it's lands, and it's  people. Each episode (and I mean to release them bi-monthly) will  explore a particular region of the West of  Middle-earth and look at  it's inhabitants, history, geography, and more. It should be a fun way  to learn more about the grand world that J.R.R. Tolkien created and  Turbine has interpreted.