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.

[Overtaxed]

I do! (And fried or in gumbo or in other dishes, too.)

I like it best fried and then in pickles. But since I'm trying to cut down on the fried stuff and I don't have time to do the pickles, I've been doing the gumbo with rice thing. Okra is about the only thing that did well in my garden this year.

[Overtaxed]

What am I? Chopped okra?

Don't believe I've ever heard of chopped okra.

[Corin Stormhands]

Ring story. Perhaps Hair will understand this better than yesterday's story.

We had a speaker at our 9/11 service on Wednesday that was at the Arlington Sheraton when the plane hit the Pentagon. He saw the plane fly by his window. The Sheraton is less than 1/2 mile from there. He talked about how his security had been in his job and in himself, but how it should be in God.

But he shared that he and his wife have a scripture reference (somewhere in "early" Jeremiah) on their wedding rings. Then he quoted the scripture reference...and he quoted...and he quoted...and he quoted...what must've been 5-6 paragraphs.

So, we're up in the choir loft looking at each other and thinking "those are big rings..." Wonder if they shrank to fit?

'splained for Hair: We realized he meant the scripture reference was on the rings, not the whole text.

[RosieCotton]

Okra is about the only thing that did well in my garden this year.

GRASS did really well around my house this year, but that's as far as I got...moved in last fall and WAS planning on putting in lots of flowers this spring, but then Mom was diagnosed and my world went haywire, so I never got around to it.

My house is built into a hillside (the only level ground is a little strip between the house and the road), so I may never have a garden. Sigh! I'd like to have SOMEthing. Maybe one day I'll get ambitious and tier part of the slope so I can have snow peas or some other fairly simple-to-grow vegetables.

[ksen]

What am I? Chopped okra?

Morning Corin!

So what association property that you are the president of was broken into/vandalised last night? ;^)

[RosieCotton]

So what association property that you are the president of was broken into/vandalised last night? ;^)

Ooh...that's cold!

[ksen]

You didn't happen to be in charge of the DNC back during the election of '72 were you?

[Corin Stormhands]

So what association property that you are the president of was broken into/vandalised last night?

Well fortunately, I'm no longer the neighborhood association president. That's a good thing, 'cause I left the meeting/picnic early Saturday (for Corin, Jr's football game) and wasn't there when the police showed up to ask the new president if they were finished shooting off fireworks. (they were, so he just sat and talked. He was responding to complaints of "shots fired.")

But, I did just find this out. One of our lifeguards. In fact the one we had to tell she couldn't wear her string bikini (okay, she really could wear it, but not to work), was storing her cocaine in the snack bar!!!!

Do ya think that's what those goons were after???!!!

Of course, this is hearsay from a parent of a kid who worked in the snack bar. So there's nothing I can do about it. And this guard won't be back next year anyway. If her parents don't do something, she'll be in re-hab, pregnant or dead.

But I was furious when I heard that after the season was over!

[Corin Stormhands]

You didn't happen to be in charge of the DNC back during the election of '72 were you?

No, that was some other 14-year-old...

[rightwingreligiousfanatic]

I thought Elrond was perfectly cast. I loved him

My problem with Elrond as cast and played in the movie is purely my own subjective way of seeing him in my mind's eye as I read the book versus the way he was portrayed in the movie. He seemed arrogant and a bit angry all the time in the movie, whereas in the book I pictured him as serene and humble, yet supremely confident. These qualities did not come out in the movie. That's all I'm talking about, not what he actually did and decided regarding the Ring, which was very true to the book.

I'm just saying that, for me, he was the most weakly cast of a very fine (and finely cast) movie. So where everyone else gets grades in the A+ to A- range, I would rate Elrond as about a B to a B-.

Hope that clarifies...

[Corin Stormhands]

He seemed arrogant and a bit angry all the time in the movie...

That was my impression too. Sort of like he needed more fiber.

[RosieCotton]

And for those of us who had recently seen him in Matrix, it was rather jarring..."Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Underhill...it seems you have been living TWO lives. In one life you are Frodo Baggins, simple hobbit of the Shire..."

I agree, though, he should have been more noble and spent less time criticizing other races...

I have similar problems (which I have voiced previously) with regards to Aragorn. It's partly just a matter of interpretation, but in the books he never struck me as unsure of himself or of his mission.

[Overtaxed]

. He seemed arrogant and a bit angry all the time in the movie, whereas in the book I pictured him as serene and humble, yet supremely confident. These qualities did not come out in the movie. That's all I'm talking about,

Bingo! That and the equally arrogant treatment of Haldir turned me into an ElfBasher.

[RosieCotton]

Please, don't get me started on Haldir!

I can't ever be a complete ElfBasher, 'cause Legolas ROCKS! The first time we watched FOTR at home, we rewound about every Legolas scene multiple times...he is so cool!

[rightwingreligiousfanatic]

I have similar problems (which I have voiced previously) with regards to Aragorn. It's partly just a matter of interpretation, but in the books he never struck me as unsure of himself or of his mission.

I'm glad to hear someone else say that. I was afraid to say anything along those lines for fear of being cast into Mount Doom by others here. I too, felt he seemed a bit weaker and more vulnerable than he should have. But I think that changed during the course of the movie and he will continue to grow in stature in TTT (95 days to go!!!).... So I have grown to like and accept Aragorn as played by Viggo....

[Overtaxed]

Well Legolas had to behave himself if he was going to go traipsing all over Middle Earth with a bunch of mortals!

[RosieCotton]

Yeah, but he was cool even before that...like when he stood up for Aragorn at the council.

I love the interaction between Legolas and Gimli during the council...once they start arguing they pretty much ignore what everyone else is saying, and the look on Legolas' face when Gimli announces he's joining the Fellowship is priceless!

[RosieCotton]

I think Hair (I think she was the one that said this?) may be right when she says Peter Jackson wanted to show how the characters were changed by all they went through, and therefore purposely made some a bit weak at the beginning, more so than they were in the book. Same goes for Frodo - he NEVER dropped his sword and ran in the book!

[ksen]

I agree, though, he should have been more noble and spent less time criticizing other races...

I'd never thought of the "Elrond as Racist" angle. Maybe that's why he sometimes wore that sheet looking outfit.

Hhmm...........I wonder who would be the Middle-Earth equivalent of Jesse Jackson?

[Overtaxed]

Another thing about elves.

What is the deal with the Mirkwood elves and the Lothlorien elves? Couldn't Haldir see that Legolas was with the company? And Legolas was ready to soot Lothlorien elves too!

Hmmm....maybe there was a feud over the lembas recipe. The Mirkwood elves then became the Keebler elves and the Lothlorien elves became Snap, Crackle, Pop.