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.
LOL! I know what you mean. I was nodding off here at the computer about an hour ago, then decided to call my sister to see how Mama is doing at the nursing home. It is near our hometown, so she's near her family, our cousins, etc. One of my cousins went out there today with her twin 10 yr. old girls to visit. She went to Mama's room expecting her to be in the bed, half comatose, which is how she had been in the hospital last week. Mama wasn't there, so my cousin followed some singing down to the common room. There was Mama sitting in her wheelchair watching the goings on with a smile on her face! When she saw my cousin, she got an even BIGGER smile on her face, and remembered her name!! My cousin was just thrilled! So are we! We don't know how long she'll be with us, but at least we know she's happy where she is.
We couldn't have put her in this place, even 6 months ago; she was still too aware of where she was. She knew she was at her house, and it would have been very traumatic to put her somewhere where she didn't know the people, because she still had enough of her wits about her to know that she wasn't completely well and she was embarrassed about it. Now she's free of that burden of awareness and is just living day to day.
It sure relieves US to know that she's doing so well. There's no way she could go back home with the amount of care that was needed now. The caregiver just couldn't do it by herself, but she's been such an angel to this point! God truly Blessed us when she came to live with Mama. So now she's free to be able to help others in a similar situation which is what she said she'd like to do, although on a 9-5 basis, not a live in situation again.
So here I am, nodding off again. Night all!
Hello, everyone. That's one of my favorite scenes. I like where Frodo's eyes roll back up in his head, it's dramatic. + the spiders and centipedes!
I'm back from Charleston, S.C., I hadn't realized it was such a beautiful place. There's good restaurants there, too.
Anyway, I'm behind on posts, so I'll try to look back a little.
I'd forgotten that (if I ever really knew it). My all time favorite episode of Deep Space Nine was when they went back in time to the "Tribbles" episode to catch this time traveler. They walk into the cafeteria/mess hall and there's a table of Klingons. But they look like Romulans. Someone asks Worf about it and he just rolls his eyes and says "it's a long story..."
Cracked me up.
If I come up with an extra plot I'll pass it your way. I can't work on my book in progress, so I need to come up with something else.
We periodically (okay the Mrs. more than I) volunteer and sign hymns at a nursing home one Sunday a month. It's amazing sometimes to watch people who can't remember the way back to their room sign all the verses of some of the old hymns.
I'm glad your Mom is surrounded by things and people who make her happy.
Who would believe it?
Actually, I'm hoping I wrote this down somewhere. I had a story idea a few weeks ago that I thought "I need to write that after I write my science fiction books..." But now I can't remember the plot...
Try brainstorming, just think of a silly or poignant or neat idea and see where it leads you - throw in something weird just for fun and see what happens!
In the first place, dwarves don't carry purses.
But I do have a large (folio-size) Daytimer. (I'm not into the Palm Pilot thing...yet). I'm thinking I wrote it down in there, 'cause that's were I usually would. I've got a file for writing resoucse also.
It was the best of Shires, it was the worst of Shires...
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