This podcast is about swims in the Shire - Tolkien’s Oxfordshire. I have no idea if Tolkien was a swimmer, but there is plenty of evidence to suggest that he liked water. In Lord of the Rings, The Elves have close affinity to water; while Ulmo is the Lord of Water. Ulmo is also the enemy of evil creatures, and therefore water is associated with moral force. My daughter, brought up in Oxfordshire as a child, still refers to where I live as ‘The Shire’ – as a place where hobbits live, hobbits being easy-going and preferring a quiet life. They can also handle a big adventure. Most hobbits can’t swim, and most are afraid of rivers. Not me. The three accounts of swimming in The Shire are extracts from my book ‘Memories like Water – Swimming in 65 places at the age of 65’. Swimming the River Thames from Lechlade to Buscot, swimming in a secluded brook by an old ruin at Minster Lovell, and swimming in the River Thames at Day’s Lock.
Listen to the podcast here
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