The Lord of the Rings (1979 NPR Dramatization) – J.R.R. Tolkien Free Audiobook

Written by J.R.R. Tolkien
Read by NPR/The Mind’s Eye
Format: M4B
Bitrate: 256 Kbps
Dramatization

In 1979 the US National Public Radio broadcast a radio dramatization of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. It was produced by The Mind’s Eye.

The cast includes Ray Reinhardt (Bilbo), James Arrington (Frodo), Pat Franklyn (Merry), Mac McCaddon (Pippin), Lou Bliss (Sam), Bernard Mayes (Gandalf and Tom Bombadil), Gail Chugg (Narrator), and Tom Luce (Strider/Aragorn). Additionally, Franklyn, McCaddon, Chugg, Reinhardt, Bob Lewis, John Vickery, Erik Bauersfeld and Carl Hague were credited for “additional voices”.

The radio script of The Lord of the Rings was written by Bernard Mayes. It emphasized dialogue over description. The broadcasts totaled more than 11 hours. The budget was small and production time was limited. The cast were local theater players, and the production used stock music and homemade sound effects. The script of The Lord Of The Rings is notable for including the Tom Bombadil scenes, unlike most other adaptations of the book.

This particular version was culled from the cassette tapes, which include around 51 minutes of audio that have since been edited out of subsequent—CD and digital—releases (roughly broken down as 10 minutes from The Fellowship of the Ring, 18 from The Two Towers, and 23 from The Return of the King). Captured and mastered at 16-bit, 192 kHz, normalized to -0.1 dB, with mild targeted noise reduction applied to reduce tape hiss. Broken into 24 chapters (from 12 tapes, sides A and B), 8 per book.