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.
Ditto that! They've got it playing in the conference room all day. And the local classical station is doing religious music all day. Right now they're doing Faure's Requiem and it's all I can do not to sing along!
We started debating little things like whether Balrogs really had wings, and whether hobbits had funny pointed ears.
LOL...I was the one who got really frantic about the pointy ears thing! I remember discussing that with you. At the time I was still trying to figure out if you were a girl or a guy, so it must have been pretty early on. ;-)
I'm still not convinced that they hafta have pointy ears (at least not big ones), but they weren't as obvious as I thought they would be, so I don't mind.
Oh, yeah, I remember that!
Seems like I've known the LOTR folks a lot longer than a year...the Ring Ping King has only been here a year??
Shameless........
What you say is true. We have all had to come to terms with this. The Left and the media would like us to remain confused, but my hope is that Americans can see clearly how things are.
Enjoyed your reminiscing, particularly how you came to FR and the "Hole."
Just before noon, Sir Suzi Q came down and mentioned that the Red Cross was looking for donors. We packed the kids books and took them with us. We arrived just before a human wave! I'm glad we got there when we did; we only had to wait and hour and a half. When we left the line was half a block long! We felt like we had at least done something. We didn't know there would be little need for all that extra blood.
I've been taping the TV coverage this morning. I can't wait to hear our Pres. speak to the country this evening and more importantly to the UN tomorrow. Our town is having an ovservance this evening which we'll attend, and it will include an Ecumenical Prayer Service. We had an impromptu gathering last year, a few days after 9/11 to which about 1000 people came. It was never advertised in the paper or on TV, folks just sent e-mail all around, and schools sent home notices with the kids. It filled a need we all felt to be with our countrymen and some who are not citizens, but who all felt violated and angry and wanted some sort of validation of those feelings by being with others who felt the same. The anger may not be as white hot as it was, but it is still there.
I'm thankful for FR; I have many friends on different continuing threads. I hope to get to meet some of y'all at Entmoot South (sorry Hair, I ain't going any farther North in the winter)and I have plans to meet some of the Bush Babes from the Dose in DC next Summer. Y'all have been a lot of fun this year, a challenging one for our nation to say the least, but humor is sometimes the best way to handle tough times.
Me too. It was the Hobbit Hole that successfully tempted me to join up.
LOL!
Actually, picking a screen name was a big reason it took me so long to join. I didn't want to get stuck with something I eventually hated (some of the goofier names that came to mind would have been in that category, i.e. CheeseMoose!), and Ididn't want to use my real name...then when all the ring stuff started, I knew what I wanted but figured it was SURELY already taken. But I got lucky!
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