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.

[HairOfTheDog]

Umbrella action would have been grand!... well, just one of those things we have to picture happening "off-screen" as Jackson says. Our surprise snowfall has stopped. I really should be cleaning up around here. My hobbit hole is a bit cluttered. But I don't want to.

[Overtaxed]

I'm hoping the front will hold off until I can get my steak on and off the grill!

I know what you mean. My hobbit hole is starting to look like a shotgun shack. I should really stop palantir watching and clean up.

[HairOfTheDog]

Ooh steak and some eggses would have been good with my toast here. I am just having breakfast. Then I will start my chores.

[JenB]

Hello! Back for a while... have to go to the grocery store soon. The movie was dull, but we got ice cream afterwards. Looks like nothing exciting going on here either.

[HairOfTheDog]

Not much is happening in The Hobbit Hole, that is true... I have been exploring new places. And cleaning my house. I could have predicted about the film. Did you see the pic of Lobelia?

[JenB]

Yeah... now there's a face that could curdle milk, huh? Sorry we didn't see her, but I do wonder if that was Lobelia at the door when Bilbo and Gandalf were talking. What do you think?

[HairOfTheDog]

We can imagine that it was... confounded relatives! hanging on the bell all day!

[JenB]

Hehehe - I'll be back later, have to go buy food for my brothers. They're weird about getting meals regularly. I don't know, shouldn't six or seven snacks be ok? But they have to have real food now and then...

[HairOfTheDog]

I will be here, my cleaning comes in short bursts separated by long periods of resting here in my computer chair.

[JenB]

Turns out we have food... nothing now for an hour, then I have to make potatoes and pork chops. I think I'm going to be a child-free person when I have my own life. This stuff is seriously cutting into my personal life! All right, so they're kinda cute in an annoying sort of way... I'm not going soft, you know!

[HairOfTheDog]

I love it when I find out I don't actually have to go into town. I think I need to go outside for a bit while it isn't raining (or snowing)

I don't have children either yet. I should get some so I can justify having ponies. I do love my pony but there is no one here small enough to ride her. Unless I train one of the dogs to ride. No that would be a spectacle!

[JenB]

Dog and pony show! You'd probably make a great mom - at least your kids would have fun with your ponies and reading Tolkien! (Do you ever get the feeling that some of us, if we produce offspring, may end up on tv as "weird parents who teach their kids Elvish and name them Pippin Galadriel"? At least we have 2JM as a good example!)

[HairOfTheDog]

And using her as an example, I believe she chose good biblical names for her kids. Myself, I would probably choose names like Arwen or Meriadoc. Perhaps I could cheat only a little and name a son Elijah.

[JenB]

Hehehe - hey, Sam's a perfectly good name for a boy... or a girl, Samantha's not bad. Or you could give them LotR middle names, you know - middle names don't matter - John Elrond or Anne Eowyn or something...

[HairOfTheDog]

Or if I wanted really pretentious and odd children, I could use Evenstar, Elbereth Gilthoniel or Elessar!

[JenB]

Lol - naming a kid Elbereth would be seriously arrogant! Elassar almost guarantees that your son would be a good fighter - he'd have to be!

I have to go peel potatoes now... ah well, when my Faramir shows up at least I'll be able to feed him properly.

[HairOfTheDog]

I believe if Faramir shows up, you will not have to peel potatos... I think you will be able to hire help.

[JenB]

Heeheehee - I can't see Eowyn peeling taters, true! Well, the potatoes are boiling and I've got ten minutes to myself in almost quiet. I can't believe it's only Saturday... Where are quests when you really need them?

[Overtaxed]

I do wonder if that was Lobelia at the door when Bilbo and Gandalf were talking.

That crabby voice sounds like it would come out of that grumpy hobbit!

[carton253]

Obviously you did not read my posts very well.