The Big Read 13 covered The Lord of the Rings, Book 5, part 1 (chapters 1-5) on
September 21, 2026 and was presented on video by Alina Himango Fairbanks.
There were close to thirty participants and the presentation ran twenty minutes affording ample small group discussion time.
Alina was focused on the Druedain as focus is indigenous studies. She presented the wildman or woodwose in literary tradition and folk tales. She discussed the deforestation of pre-agriculural times, restoration attempts and how religion and paganism played into concepts of the forest, hidden evil, and darkness.
She then addressed the plight of Native Americans and First Nations relative to the Druedain and equated Aragorn’s approach with the Druedain to tribal sovereignty.
For the breakout, I was in a group of five along with Jacob, who took on facilitator role having the questions at the ready, and Margaret, Ellen, and Penn.
The discussion was very good with varied perspectives on the questions and everyone appeared to seemlessly get points and questions made.
It made for a very enjoyable end to my Monday.
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