The New Hobbit Hole

[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to The New Hobbit Hole
Concerning Hobbits
The New Hobbit Chronicles

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.

[Sam Cree]

Tolkien's humans are quite obviously the ordinary humans found in fairy-tales (save, again, for the Númenóreans), but his Elves are by no means the ``fairies'' commonly met in them. They are not pretty toys for Victorian children. In On Fairy-stories, Tolkien draws an authoritative, absolute distinction between the pretty sprites of Shakespeare and popular fancy, and the Elves of true folklore. Elves are not part of ``that long line of flower-fairies and fluttering sprites and antennae that I so disliked as a child'' (6). Tolkien's Elves are much more the bright beings of Norse and Celtic legend, not the impotent, helpless lace beings of conventional fairy-lore. In The Notion Club Papers (published in Sauron Defeated), he has a character of his, one Professor Lowdham, talk about Elves; when questioned about the word ``elf,'' he replies, ``I didn't mean elf in any debased post-Shakespearean sense'' (306). (A full discussion of why Tolkien found conventional ideas – especially Shakespeare's – about fairies and Elves to be so distasteful and insufficient is beyond this paper; see Shippey, esp 132-39. At any rate, it suffices to say that Tolkien's Elves are not pretty toys.) The sight of an Elf-lord in his full power is enough to cow even Nazgûl: when Frodo and company are at the outskirts of Rivendell, Glorfindel their guide unleashes his powers, terrifying the pursuing Ringwraiths. ``Caught between fire and water, and seeing an Elf-lord revealed in his wrath, they were dismayed,'' explains Gandalf (Fellowship 286, 295).

Sorry for posting this somewhat lengthy essay I found posted elsewhere.

[HairOfTheDog]

Do not apologise! - Feel free to repost it again whenever OT misbehaves!

[Overtaxed]

[2Jedismom]

I love it! Thank you so much for posting it.

I am beginning to wonder what it is about my character that so loves Tolkien's writings and also enamours me so to Celtic music! I always loved the music, though I admit since obtaining my whistle it has really exploded.

No one in my family is that crazy about it and my parents have thought I'm a little odd because of it. Sure, I have liked my share of other music, but it's the old Celtic tunes I come back to over and over. Just like books...I like other books, but it's Tolkien I come back to again and again.

I don't think it has anything to do with my heritage. I'm a Heinz 57!

[HairOfTheDog]

CLICK!

[Overtaxed]

CLICK right back at ya!

[2Jedismom]

You almost tricked me into that! But I stopped it before anything played. I saw what the url was!

[Overtaxed]

Hehehe......I'm a nasty tricksey hobbit this morning! I want my whistles!

[HairOfTheDog]

I love it! - Thank you!

[Overtaxed]

Maybe I should go back to the elf pictures.

[NewCenturions]

OT,
We will never agree on the dwarves vs Elves but
I hope at least we can agree on our dislike of squirrels! One of our dogs just fractured his canine tooth in pursuit of the varmit so I'll be spending my Labor Day doing a crash course in veterinary dentistry. So much for a restful holiday!

[ksen]

I think you can mention it here. ksen posted a blatant ad for the mouse last night in an attempt to lure the entmoot ot Florida.

Just trying to appeal to everyone's baser instincts. ;^)

[ksen]

Won't he have to stop being Baptist if we go to Disney World?

ksen's not a SOUTHERN Baptist. ksen is an INDEPENDENT Baptist. ;^)

[HairOfTheDog]

spending my Labor Day doing a crash course in veterinary dentistry.

This is a frightening statement, and I am not even your dog! - What on earth have you got in mind?

[ksen]

I think ksen is Baptist, but I'm not sure what flavor....

I'm the correct flavor. ;^)

[HairOfTheDog]

So no conversion is necessary? Good! - I am not skipping Disney World if I go all the way to Florida!

[ksen]

Well, he did post the mouse as a lure....

Is it working?

[NewCenturions]

LOL! Oh, I don't mean I'm going to practice on him...just check for swelling, make sure he's not in pain. Not only are no vets open today, we are out in the boonies and there are no vet dentists near. Poor little guy - he actually "attacked" the bird feeder, trying to get the squirrel, and ending up leaving part of his tooth in the wood. By the way, this dog looks like a miniature Warg!

[ksen]

So no conversion is necessary?

To go to Disney World? Nope.

To go to Heaven? Well...........

[Overtaxed]

Poor dog! Do they do root canals on dogs?