Skip to main content
Control Panel
22_1080_FactFiction

In-person

Fact & Fiction: The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King

Date

Admission

Join us as we screen the final film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, along with a lightning lecture on J.R.R. Tolkien's Nordic and Norse inspirations.

Chairs will be provided, but please feel free to bring whatever you need to be comfortable (blankets, seat cushions, etc.)! Costumes are always welcome.

About the Movie:

In the conclusion of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic masterpiece The Lord of the Rings, armies mass for a final battle that will decide the fate of the world. Powerful, ancient forces of Light and Dark compete to determine the outcome, and one member of the Fellowship of the Ring is revealed as the noble heir to the throne of the Kings of Men. Yet, the sole hope for triumph over evil lies with a brave hobbit, Frodo, who, accompanied only by his loyal friend Sam and the hideous, wretched Gollum, ventures deep into the very dark heart of Mordor on his seemingly impossible quest to destroy the Ring of Power. Winner of 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director!

About the Lightning Lecture:

Skalds and Songs in The Return of the King

Drs. Lauren Poyer and Colin Connors team up to tackle the best part of The Lord of the Rings: the poetry! Together they explore how Tolkein’s poetry emulates early medieval styles of courtly poetic performance and how Tolkein’s placement of his poems within LOTR is reminiscent of Old Norse “saga style.”

About the Series:

Welcome to Fact & Fiction, a new series where we ask, "how accurate is this?" Together, we'll screen some of Hollywood's most popular movies that reference or are (loosely) based on Nordic history and culture, and separate the facts from the fiction.

Speakers

  • Colin Gioia Connors 2.JPG

    Colin Connors

    Dr. Colin Gioia Connors is a lecturer and electronic media producer in the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington, where he teaches classes in Viking studies and folkloristics and produces the department’s outreach podcast "Crossing North." His research includes landscape archaeology, Old Norse studies, North American Indigenous communities, and digital storytelling.

  • Lauren Poyer

    Lauren Poyer

    Dr. Lauren Poyer is an associate teaching professor in the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle. 

    Bio