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
-----------------------------------------
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.
...and have you seen the trailer yet? It finishes with your favorite character!
I'm going to the yahoo chat, if anyone want to join me. If anyone is interested in joining and hasn't yet...freepmail HairOfTheDog! She'll know what to do.
Absolutely, totally cool. Can't understand it, though. LOL That news crew needed to subtitle it in Elvish.
Gotta agree with you on this. I specifically noted Aragorn. Although I think PJ cheated a little on this. In the book Aragorn is not nearly as self-doubting and retiring in the beginning as he is in the movie. After all, he is like 80 and has held high military office under both Rohan and Gondor, and probably other countries, too.
This initial diffidence allows PJ to maximize the change in his character as the movie progresses.
My thought as I watched the preview was that Aragorn was going from being Rambo to being Patton!
I read that what you can do to copy and paste from WMP is you can freeze the frame you want, hit your "print screen" key and then go to your photo-editing software and paste it into a page. What that does is copy your entire monitor screen, then you can crop out all the extraneous stuff to get just the picture inside the player.
Now, I tried this, and it only worked once, the rest of the time it just copied and pasted a black screen. But....my computer is a dinosaur, all of a sudden, so it probably just can't handle the video demands. It's probably worth a shot, if either of you want to try it. I managed to only get one picture because now my Windows MP won't play the darned file at all--it just sits on the very first frame and doesn't move while the sound continues on without it. LOL, what a nightmare.
I was so bummed because I tried to see the trailer here in town but the movie had left town the night before I had planned to go. Now I'm doubting that the trailer was even in the theaters around me.
I also like the idea of Pippin and Merry climbing Treebeard and finding out they aren't in a tree at all, but in an Ent. I think that is a great way to introduce this character. It adds humor and keeps that pace thing going. (I am constantly telling my students... pace, pace...)
To me, he doesn't get it together until the night he spent wrestling with Sauron in the palantir. When he comes out from doing that... he is changed. And everything he does and says is decisive and kingly.
In the movie though, you don't get any of the indecision. (Except a little bit in Rivendell) He takes control of the group right after Gandalf falls.
I don't mind the movie Aragorn at all. In fact, it wasn't until I saw the movie that I began to have appreciation for the character.
Anyway, let me know what you think.
The book-Aragorn, I think, spent basically his whole life preparing to be king. Why else did he spend times fighting for the kings of Gondor and Rohan - his future kingdom and future allies? Being a Ranger was his job - but it got him acquainted with the people and places of Arnor, and probably the lands between. He can speak Common, probably both forms of Elvish, and the language of the Rohirrim. He is friendly with most of the free peoples of Middle Earth.
The movie-Aragorn... well, if they're playing it that he never really wanted to be King, why can he do all these things? Is he just Middle-Earth's version of a renaissance man? However his character is sort of brought to more light and made easier to understand in the movie... I know people who consider book-Aragorn "a bit of a stick". Doubt you could say that about the movie version!
I tried the other one but it stops too soon.
Well, now I have to see it for sure. This Saturday...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.