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.
I've never seen the actual play. I would love too. The song that the lady sings when Jean Valjean is getting ready to die brings me to tears everytime I see it.
Ever since I listened to an unabridged recording of the book Les Miserables it has become one of my favorites. I think it is an awesome picture of the contrast between grace and law. I praise God that we are under Grace. ;^)
Happy Birthday Matthew!
Bear - I liked your midnight DVD run story... It is funny to look at what people would be buying at midnight... especially when you realize that you are doing something realy obsessive and there are no others like you!
I can't make the chat either! A friend called really late last night to ask me if I would come and help her show her husband's horse to a buyer that is coming at 6:30.
Without thinking, I said sure... She does need the help. She is afraid of horses and her husband is out of town on a trip. And this is a really butt-head horse that he has been trying to sell for a long time. I like the horse, but he really is a brat.
SO OT - 2J - Anyone that is still in.... can we do the view chat really early? - I could do it early! - Like right when you get home? - Or does that not work?
That would be pretty cool. Les Mis will be here in Richmond in November. We saw it about five times in DC and have seen it once here. It's our favorite. I actually even made it through the book...(which makes the musical that much more fascinating).
I'm not sure that would be my "all time" favorite, but it would come close...
Yeah, I hope not too. I wouldn't be fond of that.
Heretic!
You really need to see it on stage if you can. I've seen the 10th anniversary thing and that's pretty cool. But it is such an incredible stage experience.
And yes, it is a wonderful story of grace.
(I got Mrs. Stormhands the London Cast recording CD for her birthday)
How about 6:00 EDT? That would make it 3 where you are. I could possibly go an hour earlier.
Thenardier represents what happens to a person who is amoral and doesn't believe in God...
Valjean, on the other hand, goes through a redemption/saving experience... and that fact changes everything he does and says...
The climax of Les Miz is when Valjean frees Javert from a certain death sentence. Javert, at the time, truly believed that Valjean would kill him.
In the confrontation Javert tells Valjean... "once a thief, always a thief". Valjean answers... "you are wrong and always have been wrong..." Then Valjean lets him go.
Javert realizes he was wrong and his new knowledge causes him to break all the rules when he in turn lets Valjean go a day later.
Then, you have a study of a person who doesn't know what to do with that "wrongness". His life, his raison d'etre, his purpose and his calling disintegrate at his feet. He kills himself because if he was wrong about Valjean, how many others have he been wrong about.
The book is truly remarkable...
Go Duke! (well, in basketball anyway...)
We saw it at the Kennedy Center in DC in 1987. My wife says we saw it before it went to New York, but I'm not so sure about that...
We also saw Shogun at the Kennedy Center. Of course it never went anywhere...
We saw Gary Morris in concert at a private event at the Columbia Winery (Washington State). Just him and the guitar. When he sang the prayer...wow!
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