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.
Another one, or do you mean the 13-year-old boy?
HA! There's no such thing! Request denied!!
Ummm...Bear, what was a smacked roach doin' on yer floor for 10 minutes? why didn't yuh pick him up and flush him right away?...
"... it was the beating of his hideous heart!"
The Poe story that bothers me most is "The Cask of Amontillado".
Funny, leaving it there seemed like a perfectly normal "guy" reaction to me....
*shudder*
Argh...this was one of my greatest fears when I was little. I think it's because of the stories I heard about Texas, actually...Pop (my grandfather) was stationed there during the early 50's, and Grandma never forgot the bugs - they even had scorpions, as I remember (no, I don't remember what part of the state that was in).
Luckily I only had this happen once - I used to put my shoes on and then imagine I felt something move. I'd take 'em off and check and find nothing. Then one time, when I was trying my best to ignore the feeling that something was there because I'd been wrong so many times before, I finally took 'em off and found one of those big black wood beetles we get up here (big by VT standards, which means about half an inch...) I checked my shoes REALLY well for a long time after that.
This guy needs to fry...after I castrate him...
Oooh...I'd forgotten that one. Pardon me while I go hurl...
I'm kinda claustrophobic. OK, VERY claustrophobic. Didn't care much for that story, if ya know what I mean.
I guess it's just the Marine in me that makes me police up my mess when I make it...
I thought so...waiting for the wife to find it...
Both good reasons! We do have scorpions here in Austin, although they're not poisonous enough to kill an adult (unless you're allegic I suppose). They can give a nasty, painful sting though. Also, poisonous spiders (shudder). There were some big bugs up in northern Michigan (spiders, beetles, etc.) but nothing really dangerous!
LOL! No, I was travelling alone at the time... I was in Virginia for two weeks to take a class at the Xerox training center. The "shoe" incident was in my hotel room.
Rose makes me deal with all the bugs at home anyway... roaches freak her out more than they do me!
I'm liking Vermont more and more after hearing all these stories! We have no poisonous spiders or bugs, no scorpions, no poisonous snakes (at least not that I've ever heard of or seen), no volcanos, no hurricanes, no tornados. Worst thing we have to deal with from a natural standpoint is blizzards. No big deal!
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