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.
Hair, was the Dan who dissed you Dan from Michigan?
But, I did find my Freshman Research Paper. Or most of it. As I recall I loaned it to a guy the next year and never saw my bibliography again (I'm fairly certain however, that the professor saw it again...).
Anyway the paper was "Christ-like Symbolism in The Lord of the Rings." Now, let's all remember that I was only 18 (not that there's anything wrong with that). But I did get an "A."
I won't post the whole thing, but the following is for your reading "enjoyment." (or is it merriment?)
The quest is to destroy the "One Ring," and to complete this task Tolkien combines Gandalf, Aragorn and Frodo into a composite hero to overtake the "antichrist" (Sauron), who is seeking the power of the Ring for his own purposes. The royal family that once ruled Middle Earth has yielded to the temptation of Sauron. Some scholars have likened this to the fall of man in the garden of Eden when Adam, unwilling to be limited, aspired to the godlike. The fall of the royal family echose the fall of Israel. Gandalf has the power, Aragorn has the kingly status, and through Frodo Tolkien suggests that the world is saved by grace as humble redemptive suffering......The major parallels between Frodo and Christ come in the "echoes of the passion." In Frodo's first captivity he was stripped and beaten by the Orcs which parallels the arrest and flogging of Christ. In his second captivity he is driven along the road and stumbles from exhaustion as Christ fell from exhaustion as he bore his cross to Calvary. In the Land of Mordor Frodo suffers many of the agonies which Christ suffered upon the cross. In an attempt to escape Frodo jumps from a bridge and falls into thorns which are parallel to the crown of thorns placed upon Christ's head. The water in the Land of Mordor was undrinkable as was the vineagar given to Christ when both of the redeemers thirsted. The biggest agony born by either was the weight of the symbol of evil which placed a tremendous strain of both physical and spiritual nature upon them.
Talk amongst yourselves....(do you think it was a "mercy grade?")...don't answer that...
But what I wanted to find was this quote from Tolkien (Harold Lindsell, ed., "J.R.R. Tolkien," Christianity Today, (28 Sept., 1973) - Tolkien said, "I am a Christian and of course what I write will be from that essential viewpoint."
Well, I hope this at least gives you some chuckles this evening...
The video store guy told me all of the rentals were like that but you could buy a wdidescreen version. I wanted to wait till a package set comes out with all 3 movies before I buy one.
Anyway, I was curious if the one you watched was widescreen or not.
I take it that you dwarves have some sort of term paper trading ring? Or is it just a similar writing style?
It was the widescreen version. But then, I didn't rent it, I actually purchased a copy of the widescreen edition at 12:15 am Tuesday morning. I just never got a chance to watch it until Saturday!
I was kind of surprised they didn't have both the "full screen" and wide screen versions on the same disk, as I've seen that on other movie DVDs.
Why would I flap over someone I don't even know coming in all of a sudden and posting 30 complaints on a post with umpteen million other posts? I didn't know he'd been "invited" to do so and I just thought he was mental!
I think I actually read the first couple of complaints and, though somewhat puzzled...disregarded it as nonsense.
No, but we do have the same hairdresser...
I'm sorry. Did I say that outloud?
Nooo.... BibChr Dan!.... he was joking but I feigned very hurt feelings.
OK - I have been out all day, I know about the JoeEveryman situation but the Freeper cop killer is news I will have to go find. I imagine it will be prominent. Egads.
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