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Tales from the Perilous Realm
- Four BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisations
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins
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Tolkien's acclaimed modern classic 'fairie' tale, read by Derek Jacobi. Smith of Wootton Major journeys to the Land of Faery thanks to the magical ingredients of the Great Cake of the Feast of Good Children.
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Part One, The Fellowship of the Ring, introduces us to Frodo Baggins. With his uncle Bilbo having mysteriously disappeared, Frodo finds himself in possession of a simple gold ring that has great and evil power. It is the Ruling Ring, taken long ago from the Dark Lord, Sauron, who now seeks to possess it again. Frodo must do everything he can to prevent this, and with the help of Gandalf the wizard and a band of loyal companions he begins a perilous journey across Middle-earth.
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Great dramatization, but read the book first!
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J. R. R. Tolkien was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor best known as the author of fantasy works like "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings." Listen as Tolkien reads "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil," "The Hoard," "Perry-The-Winkle," and "The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon." Also included is a reading of "A Elbereth Gilthoniel" in Elvish and "The Road Goes Ever on," sung by William Elvin with music by Donald Swann.
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Not all Tolkien - wish I'd noticed that
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Farmer Giles of Ham
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Farmer Giles of Ham did not look like a hero. He was fat and red-bearded and enjoyed a slow, comfortable life. Then one day a rather deaf and short-sighted giant blundered on to his land. More by luck than skill, Farmer Giles managed to scare him away. The people of the village cheered: Farmer Giles was a hero. His reputation spread far and wide across the kingdom. So it was natural that when the dragon Chrysophylax visited the area it was Farmer Giles who was expected to do battle with it!
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An exquisite story wonderfully narrated
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The Return of the King (Dramatized)
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War rages in the west, a titanic battle of will and strategy between the great wizard Gandalf and Sauron, the dark lord. Meanwhile, eastward in Mordor, Frodo and Sam approach the end of their improbable quest, bearing the One Ring ever closer to the Cracks of Doom, and to a final confrontation with the very essence of evil.
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An excellent rendition!
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Mr Bliss, a man notable for his immensely tall hats and for the girabbit in his garden, takes the whimsical decision to buy a motor car. But his first drive to visit friends quickly becomes a catalogue of disasters. Some of these could be blamed on Mr Bliss’s style of driving, but even he could not anticipate being hijacked by three bears.
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Excellent narration but story lacking
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By: J. R. R. Tolkien
Publisher's Summary
Four BBC radio dramatisations starring Michael Hordern as Tolkien - plus a special archive compilation exploring Tolkien's life and work.
The tales in this collection all reflect an aspect of what Tolkien himself called 'the perilous realm of Faerie'. Adapted for radio by Brian Sibley, co-writer of the acclaimed BBC radio production of The Lord of the Rings, they are rich in myth, magic and adventure. Among the supporting cast are Brian Blessed, Nigel Planer, Sorcha Cusack, Paul Copley and James Grout.
In 'Farmer Giles of Ham', having accidentally shot a giant, Farmer Giles' brave reputation is tested by Chrysophylax the dragon. In 'Smith of Wootton Major', a young boy eats a piece of cake containing a silver star, and is granted access to the magical land of Fäerie. 'Leaf by Niggle' is a thought-provoking allegory of the creative process, and 'The Adventures of Tom Bombadil' features Tom and the Hobbits in scenes from The Lord of the Rings which were not included in the BBC Radio 4 dramatisation.
Also included is 'J R R Tolkien: An Audio Portrait', in which Brian Sibley draws together interviews from radio and television programmes featuring the author himself, his original publisher Rayner Unwin, his biographer Humphrey Carpenter and many others, to relate the story of both Tolkien the man and the worlds he created.
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What listeners say about Tales from the Perilous Realm
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-03-18
an interesting little book. If you are a Tolkien
Tolkien fans will enjoy this little book. Give it a chance, and take an unexpected journey.
7 people found this helpful
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- Patrick
- 06-15-19
Terrible narrative
Sorry, but these voices are terribly annoying. Made it 20 minutes in and gave up. Disservice to Tolkien
1 person found this helpful
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- Mark A. Desjardins
- 01-23-21
SO MUCH MORE THAN THE STORIES!
First, you should READ these wonderful stories. These dramatizations are all very well done, I particularly enjoyed Brian Blessed's stentorian performance in Farmer Giles of Ham. However,the documentary that makes up the last two hours is simply wonderful! Listen to Tolkien scholars, excerpts from the fantastic BBC dramatization from the 1980's and to Professor Tolkien himself!!
This is a MUST for Tolkien fans!!
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- Jonathan Burns
- 11-09-20
No original cast for ‘The Adventures of Tom Bombadill’
Was disappointed that the Brian Sibley dramatization of the Adventures of Tom Bombadill, did not have the original cast from his Lord of the Rings audio adaptation, but that’s my only real complaint, there’s still plenty here for a Tolkien lover to enjoy.
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- David M. Wallace
- 04-26-20
Good?
Tales from the Perilous Realm is a good book, but this dramatization doesn’t really do it justice.
My chief complaint is the voice of Garm. Every “R” is turned into an “Rrruff”.
Bottom line———————————————-
If you want to listen to this story collection, don’t waste your money/credits; get the full one narrated by Sir Derek Jacobi.
That one is worth it.
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- Maggie
- 02-27-20
I love Tolkien !
The stories were imaginative and performed really well! The portrait of Tolkien was so interesting and I loved the author's view of his stories and himself. This book also makes me want to read The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings again! And, maybe, try the Sylmarilian again!
I enjoyed this so much!
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- Jeremiah
- 01-17-20
Cool LOTR extras, but not all stories
I am a pretty big nerd, so this was nerdy enough for me, but I wouldn't start here for any newer fan.
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- Yas
- 04-16-19
The Lord Of the Middle Earth
The BBC adaptations of J R R Tolkien's classic The Lord Of the Ring is simply brilliant. Middle Earth came alive as did the tale of the man himself.
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- Tempting Reviews
- 03-08-19
Needs work
Narrator has a strange warbling effect. It's not the recording because all other voices are fine and clear.
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- Nigel
- 12-03-17
A book of three parts
A book of three parts; the first three stories remind me of 1980s Jackanory, but with multiple voices - stories for children.
Farmer Giles of Ham, (55 minutes)
Smith of Wootton Major, (33 minutes)
Leaf by Niggle, (34 minutes)
The fourth chapter is taken from Lord of the Rings, a scene which wasn’t included in either the BBC Radio 4 dramatisation or Peter Jackson’s films. It is okay, but can understand why it was omitted as doesn’t really add anything to the LOR story.
The Adventures of Bombadil, (54 minutes)
And lastly my favorite part, a documentary about JRR Tolkien.
JRR Tolkien: An Audio Portrait, (1hr, 50minutes)
20 people found this helpful
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- andy
- 04-23-21
Stella cast in this wonderful adaptation.
Tales from the perilous realm is everything you expect it's going to be from Magnificent Brian sibley.Superb adaptation of this lesser known piece. stories are in depth and curious ,with reference to days of gandalf and the shire in Adventures of tom bombadill to the .show stopper that is Farmer giles of ham voiced by the great Brian blessed..All the stories are excellent and the voice work is superb Sir Micheal hordern as gandalf is a utter delight with nigel planer ,Brian blessed etc etc. Well worth a listen..
1 person found this helpful
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- Estell Elessar
- 01-24-22
Beautiful and engrossing
The short stories were good and presented well however what is worth more than its weight in gold is the Tom Bombadil chapter Narrated by Brian Sibley. it felt like the episode we never got and always wanted from the BBC dramatisation. the last two chapters were an audio biopic on The Professor including interviews with him, this was a lovely surprise! would reccomend for any Tolkien or literature fan for the last two chapters alone.
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- Shelfseeker
- 11-16-20
Worth buying for Tolkien completists
I didn't really enjoy the very dated dramatisations of Tolkien's minor works, but in any case I bought this BBC-produced audiobook for the final two chapters. These comprise a turn-of-the-century radio documentary written and presented by Brian Sibley, whom most will recognise as one of the adaptors of the BBC radio drama version of LoTR. It's interesting, and irritating, to listen to the pre-Jackson conventional literary establishment perspective on Tolkien's fiction. Prof John Carey is especially infuriating in his assessment, that I'm sure he thought was even-handed, referring to the aspects of LoTR that, in his eyes, make it a book for children rather than adults. It's a familiar opinion, and a superficial one, concentrating as it does on the most superficial aspects of the book. Anyone who has read Prof Verlyn Flieger's superlative critical works on Tolkien's fiction, as well as Prof Tom Shippey's books of course, will recognise just how mistaken this kind of analysis really is. It's a great pity that Flieger was not interviewed here, though her work on the Silmarillion and LoTR was very well-known by this time. Shippey gets a couple of brief slots, but isn't given the chance really to expand on his defence. Leaving all that aside, it was good to hear short interview clips from some of Tolkien's colleagues and friends, whom I've only ever read about, e.g. his secretary, Joy Hill, who was appointed by Allen & Unwin in the 1960s to handle his fan mail. Best of all were the interview clips with Tolkien himself, most of which date from the 60s. Turn up the volume and concentrate hard!
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- Anonymous User
- 11-16-20
Awsome
Its story with the hobbits, Tom Bombadil and the interviews after, all worth it.
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- Culwen
- 02-03-20
Not quite what I expected but nice nonetheless
It feels like a mishmash. At first you will listen to the two tales which themselves don’t amaze me. Then you will hear the start of the story of Lord of the Rings. Which felt like it cut short. Then you get some haphazardly assembled comments about the author, which is nice but not what I expected.
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- Sister Luke
- 06-30-20
A mixed bag
There was some wonderful voice acting ( Brian Blessed was brilliant, as ever, as were the voices of Tom and Goldbery). However there were also some very odd choices made when it came to adapting Tolkien's stories into dialogue, and often the voicing/characterisation felt 'off',
; what they chose to leave vs what they left out felt arbitrary, and the conveying of visual information through ordinary media was generally clunky and awkward. The action scenes were particularly badly handled. Those problems pertained primarily to the Farmer Giles of Ham, Smith of Wotton Major and Life by Niggle stories. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (which is actually the Hobbits stay in the House of Bombadil from the Lord of the Rings) and the audio documentary on Tolkien , on the other hand, were excellent (incorporating snippets from the BBC Lord of the Rings radio play) were by far the best parts, well worth it for that alone.