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.
Over a year before the movie came out, during the election year, I posted here on FR that The Lord Of The Rings would be needed to give heart to those of us who oppose evil, and might even help to redeem our times. I certainly need it now to soothe my soul. I guess you could say that I am definitely not 'a happy camper'.
Boy you do sound down LCS... Get some rest... (No I am not trying to sound like Clarity)
I need to go to sleep - an early morning is rushing up on me. Get away from the computer though - it isn't helping you to be here without hobbits to cheer you... the rest of the board is full of pessimists.
Spring is coming, like it always has before!
But we have known since the days of Chaucer that April is "the cruellest month", although that was in England at the beginning of the 'little Ice Age' and I am in Florida.
"February is there to show people who don't drink what a hangover is like."
The quote is Garrison Keillor, who most conservatives don't like, but I would defend outright because I love to hear him tell a story. (It's my Scandinavian Minnesotan Lutheran Lake Wobegon homestead roots)
Wow, maybe we are 'brothers'. My birthday is also in April, last Friday, maybe that is what got me down. My father was Scandinavian (Finnish) and of Lutheran descent, and grew up by a lake in Ely, Minnesota, where his parents moved at the end of the 19th century. Not only that, but my sister lives in Washington State, and used to live in Kent, probably within a stone's throw of the Gwahir family.
Those of us that missed it would like to know how it went. Any new earth-shattering insights?
Today will be another quiet day for me - have to go into the office - Seattle. Sorry the Green Dragon is so behind but I am just getting too busy these days to post much during the day, and last night was too much of a distraction. Maybe I can post the new section tonight/tomorrow. I hope.
There is an unfortunate branch right in the way at the Eagle cam now! result of all the wind I wonder? Doubt they can do anything about it now. They probably won't risk disturbing the nest to fix the situation.
As for April, we've had a nasty month but this week promises to make things better. The sun is shining and the weather's so warm I've had to dig out my short sleeved shirts! But I am glad to be born in May, not April. I understand my mother was not happy with me waiting a couple days to make my entrance, though.
We had a wonderful chat for those who missed it. Be sure and sign up with our egroup if you haven't already. Just freepmail me if you want the info, or just say so and someone will help you.
Anyone seen Rosie Cotton on here lately?
By the way, check out this nifty little countdown timer I found linked from TORN. It is small enough to fit in the corner of your screen, and includes about a dozen skins (including Aragorn, Arwen, Frodo, Pippin, and Gandalf).
Only 245 days, 15 hrs, 28 min and 7 seconds to go!
But he is a bitter, hateful, spiteful and STUPID liberal. I say that having heard dozens and dozens of PHCs. The way he talked about Gingrich and the Republicans — it's just as well I wasn't within striking distance of the man.
He has a deep hatred of Christianity, too, which he masks beneath singing all those hymns and his little (pathetic, absurd, insane) religious characters. Particularly in the area of sexuality, he found the way of Christ not to his liking. It comes out virulently in his writing, but it leaks into his folksy, homey commentary as well.
I remember him fondly telling the story, all warm and winsome, about how older folks so love Proms, because kids having sex at them make little great-grandchildren. I thought, To be that clueless, do you have to take a class, or does it come naturally to him? Just the message we need today: children having sex is a homey, heart-warming, wonderful tradition, because it's how we get grandchildren. But of course the real purpose is to assuage his own conscience.
This is the man who spoke at length about how Paula Poundstone was the most "courageous" artist he knew. I wrote him then, a couple-few years ago, asked him whatever he could mean. She is occasionally funny, says some shallow, knee-jerk liberal cliches — but "courage"?
I still enjoy listening to PCH when I can (Lives of the Cowboys, Guy Noir, the skits, the guests, and yes, the monologue). Keillor's very talented. But the man is soul-sick, and his values are contemptuous and despicable.
Dan
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