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.
He's really pretty healthy now except for the asthma. And the episodes are so few and far between that they usually catch us off guard.
Sometimes I think that can be pretty entertaining, but some posters are really rude, without provocation.
"The anonymity and the distance of the internet make people behave far worse than their mothers taught them to behave."
Yeah, kind of like how people in their cars often seem to think that they're anonymous or something. Some folks think that while they're behind the wheel, they're not accountable for their behavior.
That's precisely why I don't put one on my car. I'm afraid I'll forget and flip somebody the bird...
Interesting watching the interviews on the dvd's. Mortenson came off very well, I thought. I read somewhere that he paints, but haven't seen his work yet. The "hobbits inverviewed well also.
Liv Tyler seemed a little giggly, though I loved her as Arwen. Cate Blanchett, I thought had a fine presence in her interviews, as she did in the film. Do you know where she's from?
That's interesting. I have arthritis in my knees and ankles. I don't have psoriasis, but I do have a skin allergy. If I don't take my medicine (atarax or the generic) I itch all over. My allergist years ago thought the cancer triggered it. But I wonder if there's an arthritis connection?
It's getting to the point with me that I don't even bother to read the comments after the initial post. They just make me angry.
Today I hardly even looked at the news side. I'm not sure, though, if that's because I'm disenchanted with the fighting, or if it's just that I'm becoming less and less interested in "news".
At one time in my life, I drove a truck with my company name, so acquired something of a habit of courteous driving.
If you're a terrible person, 2JM, the rest of us are really in serious trouble.
My daughter had terrible respiratory problems and asthma (inherited from me, I guess) as a small child and was always on the nebulizer. But she reacted to all the illness by fighting with all her heart. She developed a very determined and outgoing personality (the outgoing part differs from me, though not from my wife). She's a great kid now at 19, no longer sick, a natural at making friends and having a positive attitude. Just got a letter from her university that she's on the Dean's List too.
Forgive me for bragging, though sometimes parents can't help it.
Jesus said "I will make you fishers of men."
In the early days of the Christian church, when the Christians were being persecuted it was a greeting.
A Christian would draw an arc in the sand with his foot. If the other person was also a Christian, they would counter, making the sign of the fish.
Fish would not have been part of The Last Supper which was the traditional Jewish Passover meal.
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