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.
Morning all. Got to get my caffeine before heading off to work - and check what's happened overnight.
WoT rambles on with no end in site and is a lot more wordy. The last WoT book I read, I was hoping the bad guys would win.
It's Corin, Jen, ;-)
Hiho, hiho, it's off to work I go. See you guys later!
Grumpy dwarf this morning. Just got word that our neighborhood pool concession stand was broken into last night. The nasty little beasts took all the candy and damaged the sink and the counter top. Don't know yet if they got any money (I think they usually take it out at night, or it's better hidden than the crooks know).
Make me angry. I have NO tolerance for vermin like this. Anybody want to come help me hunt some orcses?
Just found out. They didn't get the money (which I'm sure is what they were looking for). They got in by pushing the air conditioner in. It landed on the sink and counter. Amazingly, it's still working, but a little banged up. We didn't need this going into the 4th....grrrrr....
Yeah, I like the more traditional services as well. Our church is pretty traditional, although our song leader likes to sneak in a chorus every now and then. I had one man in our congregation say that he had come from a church that sang a bunch of 7-11 songs. You sing 7 words and then repeat them 11 times. ;^)
A person can get lost in the church though...it's so huge. You have to find your nich. Ours is the homeschool group, of course. About 200 people, including the kids. You may recall I went to our banquet a while back?
Our church runs about 300 on a Sunday am, but only around 50 on a Wednesday night prayer meeting. My pastor is particularly burdened about that right now.
Does your church have its own school? I would like to see our church start a school for the church kids.
Update:
Gandalf came back from slumming with the Balrog. Gimli almost had Legolas convinced to turn Gandalf into a pincushion.
All is well now, Gandalf let them know that Merry & Pippen were alright and now they are headed to the Golden Hall.
I will help!
Tell that to the stinking orcses
Hhmm, so did Aragorn and the rest of the company. What they didn't realize though was that there was a large mattress at the bottom of the chasm he fell into. So instead of going "splat!" at the bottom he went "boing!"
Even though it was a nice comfy mattress, stuffed with feathers (don't tell Gwaihir), the landing still knocked the air out of Gandalf and the Balrog. Which was actually a stroke of luck because since they were so out of breath they couldn't get into the steel cage death match right away.
They had time to size each other up. It was at that moment that Gandalf recognized just who this Balrog was. It was his old Maiar friend Fargaband, which translated into the common speech is Bob. Before the fall of Melkor and the other Maiar, Bob and Gandalf had been best friends growing up, after all they had only lived a couple of houses apart. So after reminiscing and reliving some of their old memories for a few days they decided they didn't want to fight to the death anymore. So they decided to each go back to their own side and Bob would tell his bosses that he had been victorious and Gandalf would claim that he had beat Bob.
You won't find this part of the tale in the official canon, but it can be found in the Not Quite, But Almost Red Book of Westmarch, which has the real skinny on all the other "official" accounts of the happenings during the War of the Ring.
Would that be The Pink Book of Westmarch?
The Elf shoves the beer away in distain.
The Human flicks the fly away and drinks his beer.
The Dwarf picks the fly up by the wings, holding it over his glass, and screams "Spit it all out you little b@$!@rd!!!"
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As my father always said:"Orc dat goes to bed with itchy butt, wakes up with smelly finger..."
I believe they originally wanted to call it The Fuchsia Book of Westmarch, but who REALLY knows what the color fuchsia is.
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