Posted on 03/14/2002 5:07:26 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
This is a continuation of the infamous thread New Zealander Builds Hobbit Hole originally posted on January 26, 2001 by John Farson, who at the time undoubtedly thought he had found a rather obscure article that would elicit a few replies and die out. Without knowing it, he became the founder of the Hobbit Hole. For reasons incomprehensible to some, the thread grew to over 4100 replies. It became the place for hobbits and friends of hobbits to chit chat and share LoTR news and views, hang out, and talk amongst ourselves in the comfort of familiar surroundings.
In keeping with the new posting guidelines, the thread idea is continuing here, as will the Green Dragon Inn, our more structured spin-off thread, as soon as we figure out how to move all the good discussion that has been had there. As for the Hobbit Hole, we will just start fresh, bringing only a few mathoms such as the picture above with us to make it feel like home, and perhaps a walk down memory lane:
Our discussion has been light:
It very well may be that a thread named "New Zealander builds Hobbit hole" will end up being the longest Tolkien thread of them all, with some of the best heartfelt content... Sorry John, but I would have rather it had been one with a more distinguished title!… post 252 - HairOfTheDog
However, I can still celebrate, with quiet dignity, the fact that what started as a laugh about some wacko in New Zealand has mutated and grown into a multifaceted discussion of the art, literature, and philosophy that is Tolkien. And now that I've managed to write the most pompous sentence of my entire life, I agree, Rosie… post 506 - JenB
Hah! I was number 1000!! (Elvish victory dance... wait, no; that would be too flitty) … post 1001 - BibChr
Real men don't have to be afraid of being flitty! Go for it. – post 1011 – HairOfTheDog
Seventeen years to research one mystical object seems a bit excessive… post 1007 - JenB
Okay...who's the wise guy who didn't renew Gandalf's research grant?… post 1024 – Overtaxed
To the very philosophical:
…Judas Iscariot obviously was a good man, or he wouldn't have been chosen to be one of the Apostles. He loved Jesus, like all of the Apostles, but he betrayed him. Yet without his betrayal, the Passion and Crucifixion would never have occurred, and mankind would not have been redeemed. So without his self-destruction infinite good would not have been accomplished. I certainly do not mean this to be irreverant but it seems to me that this describes the character of Gollum, in the scenes so movingly portrayed above… Lucius Cornelius Sulla
To fun but heartfelt debates about the integrity and worth of some of the characters…
…Anyone else notice how Boromir treats the hobbits? He's very fond of them but he seems to think of them as children - ruffling Frodo's hair, calls them all 'little ones'. He likes them, but I don't think he really respects them… post 1536 - JenB
Yes... Tolkien told us not to trust Boromir right off the bat when he began to laugh at Bilbo, until he realized that the Council obviously held this hobbit in high esteem. What a pompous dolt… post 1538 - HairOfTheDog
…I think almost every fault of his can be traced directly back to his blindness to anything spiritual or unseen. He considers the halflings as children, because that is what they look like. He considers the only hope of the ring to be in taking it and using it for a victory in the physical realm. He cannot see what the hobbits are truly made of, he cannot see the unseen hope of what the destruction of the ring might mean--the destruction of Sauron himself, and he cannot see the unseen danger that lies in the use of the ring itself… I just feel sorry for Boromir--he is like a blind but honorable man, trying to take the right path on the road but missing the right path entirely because he simply cannot see it… post 1548 - Penny1
Boromir isn't a jerk, he's a jock… post 2401 – Overtaxed
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Oh, I think by the time Frodo reaches the Cracks, he's not even himself anymore! I think he's not only on the brink of a dangerous place physically, he's on the brink of losing himself completely during the exchange with Gollum. But for some reason, the take-over isn't complete till he actually has to throw the Ring in. The person speaking to Gollum is not Frodo, but the "Wheel of Fire" that Sam sees. After the Ring is destroyed, Frodo not only comes back to himself, but comes back with the unbearable (to him) knowledge of what it's like to be completely without compassion. I think that's why it's so important to him to be compassionate in the Shire… post 2506 - 2Jedismom
…Regarding Frodo's compassion... it's a little too much at the end. Even Merry tells him that he's going to have to quit being so darn nice. But you're right. He's learned a lesson about evil that very few ever learn since it wasn't an external lesson but an internal one. (Those kinds of lessons have the greatest impact) Not only did he totally succumb to it, but he was rather ruthless to my little Smeagol… post 2516 - carton253
Well that Frodo was a big mean bully! (to Smeagol)… post 2519 – Overtaxed
So as you can see, everything JRR Tolkien (and Peter Jackson) is welcome here in our New Row, our soon-to-be familiar New Hobbit Hole…; philosophy, opinion, good talk and frequent silliness.
Dwarves don't have the coordination or grace to surf stairs....
Especially if they're wearing snow pants.
I wasn't sneaking, I was... assessing my chances.
And I'm not a silly dwarf... I'm a silly Beorning.
Then the dwarf-stuff was quite an insult! Sorry!
I was groggy
No apology necessary, I figured it was an honest mistake, seeing as how I was sticking up for Gimli and all. :)
Just for the record, I haven't worn snow pants, or been that short, since I was 12.
How frightening!
Set Report From Upper Hutt!
Xoanon @ 8:35 pm ESTHutt river girl sends along this report from New Zealand. She's a new spy, so I'm not too sure if everything here is accurate, but hopefully we'll have some pictures to prove it soon!
I have just stood in a paddock of cow dung for the past four hours and watched the Master- Peter Jackson at work directing the heaven sent Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn).
Here is the scene:
Aragorn is lying injured on the river bank. His faithfull steed comes over to him nudging his face and upper body - rousing him obviously from his injuries. Aragorn comes to and grabs his mane in his fist he pulls himself up onto the horse and they walk away.
Aragorn is dirty and wet. He has a wound to his left shoulder - like a sword wound. His has blood on his hands and he is very wet.
Viggo was constantly asking for a spray bottle in which he sprayed across his face and hair. A standby person poured water from a bucket across his feet.
Aragorn's magnificant sword hangs from his hip, his clothes are very dirty and are covered in river soil.
During filming Peter Jackson sat on a little stage (pedestal) and directed things then for a different angle he sat on the ground on a tarpauline. He looked like a buddah.
The location is the Upper Hutt river, which runs behind our properties. We have been kept up all night as the generators whirrled making light so the scene could be set up.
After four hours of watching, I got cold and called it quits and came home but had to share my spy report with you all.
What an amazing experience to have a bit of Hollywood on your own back yard and filmed in a place which you love - the hutt river.
I am in awe of Viggo - he layed on the ground and let the horse nudge him constantly, then in his break he went up and spoke to a group of fans that were standing by. And he even let a little boy touch his sword which he had withdrawn from its bejewled casing.
I am not a dedicated LOTR fan but I do love Viggo he was my fav character - and are so proud that it is filmed near we live. And I can't believe I had the opportunity to see Peter Jackson in the flesh.
See you all. regards Hutt river girl.
Looks like we are in for more dirty Viggo shots! - (painful as they are to see) And I am so looking forward to the horses! - Foremost Shadowfax because of the care they took to train the horse to be ridden "at liberty" (horse speak for "elf-fashion", without bridle) But this looks like a touching scene here!
Looks like we are in for more dirty Viggo shots!
Uh oh, my wife won't like that...
Dirty fingernails too, I'll bet...
Sorry guys, I had to work. But you solved the question yourself - ie that apparently the towers do refer to Morgul and Orthanc. Rayner Unwin, incidentally, is the kid who read The Hobbit and made his dad publish it; years later he was one of the first to read LotR.
Since Tolkien wanted the whole thing as one book, not three, he didn't really have titles, appart from the six section titles. He proposed something like "The Shadow Lengthens" and "The Shadow Defeated", IIRC, for volumns two and three, but got vetoed. In fact, he did not like Return of the King as a title since he felt it gave too much away....
borogrove time!
It'll probably be one of those scenes which isn't in the book(s) but isn't totally out of place and works so well in the movie that no one will really mind. I'll suspend further judgement until the movie comes out, and put my faith in PJ's direction. :)
The Wind is in the Borogroves.
If there really is a scene like this in the movie I will be even more miffed at PJ's departures from the book. I hope Hutt River Girl is wrong!
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