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]

Good Morning!

OK, I registered at NaNoWriMo. Now what do I write about?

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Good morning! I am still posting on my daughter's laptop. I just bumped the 'SECOND PLANE FLIES INTO OTHER TOWER!' thread, for those who can't figure out why we are attacking Saddam! You had one of the earliest comments there.

[irishtenor]

Yup, stuck at work. Question for you and your friends... Cable or phone line? Before I hook my computer up and wire my den I need to make a descision.

[HairOfTheDog]

Good morning! Irish Tenor! Cable! - 20 times faster than phone line, and around $50 bucks a month.... It is well worth the money.... never wait for a page to load again, and download anything you want in minutes instead of hours!

[2Jedismom]

You are not going to believe it.

You know that guy in Sunday school that I offended a couple of weeks ago? That psychologist? Didn't I tell you about that and that I didn't really want to go back because I could tell he was pretty mad?

Well, I went back anyway and shouldn't have! He came up to me and really gave it to me, told me I didn't know what I was talking about and on and on. Steve took me by the arm and said "Let's go" because I was starting to cry. He brought me home and has now gone back to get the boys.

Steve was pretty mad. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm just sitting here bawling.

[irishtenor]

I will go with your recommendation, and penny's, when she gets back from church, if I can get cable hookup in my area. I think I can.

[HairOfTheDog]

Remind me what you said to him before! - I remember that there was an incident, but not what caused it!

My memory is foggy!

Oh I hope you don't bawl anymore 2J!

[HairOfTheDog]

I think Penny is a DSL user, which about as fast (but I think I am a little faster on downloads)... It is not available everywhere cable is, though... You have to be in town to get it. If you have both options, check the price!

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

I think that happenned even before my PC went down on 9-12, since I remember it. Whatever you did, that guy had no right to do that to you! Some psychologist he is!!

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

By the way, do you have the money to bail your husband out of jail, in case he does what I would do in those circumstances?

[2Jedismom]

Well, it was rather touchy. I made a comment about how the mental health industry is failing it's patients in many ways by keeping them depending on the industry. They actively promote their medications, almost convincing people with the commercials they run on TV that they have problems. They never offer the healing power of Jesus Christ as even an Option, because it's not politically correct and heck, if Jesus heals, you're HEALED by cracky...and that's not good for business!

Well, now I painted with a broad brush, because there are wonderful Christian mental health clinics that do promote healing and independence. But apparently this hacked this guy off pretty bad...he said so right in class. But then class was over and we left, but I didn't want to go back.

Come to find out later on, he's a deacon...high up in the church "leadership" and a bigwig on TV (which I never watch tv, you know).

[2Jedismom]

LOL! I sure hope it doesn't come to that...I told him not to say a word to him. But Steve was pretty angry.

Thanks...I needed the chuckle.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Strange that he would get so angry at that, psychologists can't even prescribe medications!

[Overtaxed]

Having a hard time facing the truth, is he? A friend of my mom's had a son sent to one of those Charter mental hospitals. He was declared "cured" only after they ran out of insurance money. And the poor kid wasn't any better off before than after.

[2Jedismom]

That's true! I thought at the time he was over reacting and the fact that he harbored it all this time and took the first chance he's seen me to jump on me about it makes me wonder about him! I suspect he's probably irritated with the suggestion that he ought to offer Jesus as a treatment. For one thing, he knows he should be and it rankles him that I brought it up. So all he can do is trash me.

I feel most badly because I want my kids to go to that church...it's where all their friends are...their greatest social interactions are there. Probably Steve will go back to the class and I'll go work in the library.

[Overtaxed]

Anyone who goes to a psychologist ought to have his head examined! :)

[2Jedismom]

Exactly, OT. That's exactly it.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Charter went bankrupt, as is appropriate for 'doctors' primarily concerned with $$$!

[Overtaxed]

Good Riddance!!!

[2Jedismom]

I'm not saying that there isn't a need for therapy and such. The topic was self-accountability and I have seen with my own two eyes how the mental health industry downplays self-accountability.