The Fellowship of the Ring

What could possibly sound more English, more epic, and more mythological than THE LORD OF THE RINGS in the hands of BBC Radio? In this 1981 full-cast dramatization, the grand language, leisurely pace, and absorbing detail of J.R.R. Tolkien are all evident, as are the high production standards of the BBC. I can't stress enough the "Britishness" of this production--from the voice of Ian Holm as Frodo Baggins (Holm appeared in the movie as Bilbo) to the courtly musical score to the urgent, gray, misty, Celtic quality of the last words of this first book: "It was beyond all hoping that such a road would prove safe, though just how dangerous it would turn out to be we could never have imagined in our most terrifying nightmares." When you hear those words, you feel them. Tolkien wrote serious fantasy, and these tapes capture his story's timeless and wise undertones. B.P. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine