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 agree, this whole thing is a waste of time and energy. Free Republic is a sole proprietorship. If you don't like the was the proriotor is running the show, and you can't change his mind, than decide either to accept things the way they are, or leave.
Probably! But you have to be careful wearing it when you take a bath... it tends to slip off, and then you get shot full of arrows...
Those are my feelings as well. And I really took up for the moderators over on the religion threads. Some thought they were above the law.
At the same time, it's just discouraging that we fight over such petty issues.
Hillary! is running for President and we're concerned about vanity posts...
Don't think so. I believe that my name means 'person who lives on land with stumps on it', which is I guess either a lazy farmer or a frontiersman. I prefer to think it is the latter.
But just wait until we get RoadRunner...
Agreed. Look at the big pictutre, like your previous post about federal prisons being filled up with fans of J.R.R. Tolkien!
Is too! Just who was it who stood with Isildur at the Cracks of Doom (probably with his hands on his hips) and said "Isildur if you don't throw it away I'm going to tell Gandalf..."
A dwarf would've tackled him...
Let's put it this way. She has released this statement, "I have no plans to run for President."
What do you think?
Elrond didn't force Isildur to get rid of the Ring because it would have destroyed Isildur's mind, right? The Ring must be given up of the holder's free will, or else, right? So, Elrond took pity on Isildur, tried to persuade him to give up the Ring rather than force him, and started the whole mess! And then, get this, and then... it was Bilbo's (and later Frodo's) acts of pity on Gollum/Smeagol that wound up fixing the mess that Elrond's pity started!
An act of pity started it, and an act of pity led to finishing it!
Did I just make a brilliant observation, or was it blindingly obvious all along and I just didn't see it?
Have faith little sister. Surely that is just a matter of time...
So, you're saying that Elrond and Bilbo (and later Frodo) were all liberals? I mean, they couldn't be compassionate and conservative too you know.
But seriously, do you think it was pity that kept Elrond from forcing Isildur to toss the ring?
Last night a thunderstorm was coming and the boys were a little scared. I sat up with Steve to monitor the situation (he was on call to collect samples) and so I put the boys in our bed together. I went to check on them and this is how they were. So cute! (Mind you, it was very dark in the room...the flash lit it up this bright.)
Matthew still sleeps with a "Humpty Dumpty" type toy he's had since birth...it's name is Huevo!
It is not the kind of accommodations I had pictured for Entmoot!
That's probably closer to it. In reality, Elrond had two choices 1) Toss Isildur into the Cracks of Doom wearing the ring or 2) Take the ring from Isildur by force, at which point he knew he would be tempted by the power of the ring...
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