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.

[RosieCotton]

Maybe they braid it?

I don't think it grows THAT long! But maybe they curl and perfume it?

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Good morning! Doing fine here, thanks... waiting to hear about a possible job. If I don't get the one I'm hoping for, I'll be starting work on another contract next Monday... will be glad to have the unpaid vacation over with!

One of my grandfathers used to make up slightly off-color lyrics and sing them to the "Mickey Mouse Club" theme to amuse us kids, so I come by my sense of humor honestly! ;)

[RMDupree]

Have to run out and do some more errands.

Before I go, let me set out lunch for all of those who may stop in.

I've grilled some filet mignon wrapped in bacon. There is some lovely portabella mushroom sauce to smother them in if you choose.

Crisp caesar salad and fresh baked rye bread are on the right. All the dress-up stuff is next to that.

For a light lunchtime dessert, I've baked up a batch of peanut butter cookies and a pan of fudgy brownies as well.

ENJOY! Be back later!

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

pinging you to 36,642... not sure what happened there!

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

uhm, 34,642...

is it lunchtime yet?

[g'nad]

One of my grandfathers used to make up slightly off-color lyrics and sing them to the "Mickey Mouse Club" theme to amuse us kids, so I come by my sense of humor honestly! ;)

I had a couple of uncles that were the same way... regailin' me with war stories, jokes and off color songs at an early age...I miss those old-timers...

Good luck on the employment... unpaid vacations blow...can I say that?...

[g'nad]

heh heh...I got it... I was kinda wunderin too...

[Corin Stormhands]

Sheesh! Rush just announced that Governor Spendenning of Maryland has banned recreational shooting in four counties until the sniper is caught...what an idiot!

[ItsOurTimeNow]

LOL...now that begs the question:

If a hobbit was born with hairless feet, or if an older hobbit begins to lose his foot-hair...would he use a toupee? Get plugs? A Foot-Merkin? LOL

[g'nad]

Governor Spendenning of Maryland ...what an idiot!

ummm...yer bein' redundant...

the People's Republic of Maryland tightens the screws even tighter on law-abiding citizens...PRM has the most gun laws/regulations/controls in the U.S., and this still happened...the idea that more gun laws are needed is moronic...di di didi dii...news flash....criminals are going to get and use guns, regardless of the laws... what a friggin' loser... don't get me started...

[g'nad]

WOOOHOOO!...G'NAD THREADKILLER STRIKES AGAIN...

[Sam Cree]

Does the governor of Maryland actually have dictatorial powers?

[ItsOurTimeNow]

No, but it's in the "best interest of the people", so residents are expected to just sit back and accept it.

[g'nad]

Does the governor of Maryland actually have dictatorial powers?

the Komrade Governer and the PRM Politburo sure think so... thank God I'm in VA...(fer now)...

[Overtaxed]

Where have you guys been? They had that Spendenning of Maryland story posted twice last night.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Gwaihir's offspring spotted!

A super-sized bird in Alaska
By PETER PORCO
Anchorage Daily News
October 15, 2002

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A giant winged creature, like something out of Jurassic Park, has reportedly been sighted several times in Southwest Alaska in recent weeks.

Villagers in Togiak and Manokotak say they have seen a huge bird that's much bigger than anything they have seen before.

A pilot says he spotted the creature while flying passengers to Manokotak last week. He calculated that its wingspan matched the length of a wing on his Cessna 207. That's about 14 feet.

Other people have put the wingspan in a similar range.

Scientists aren't sure what to make of the reports. No one doubts that people in the region west of Dillingham have seen a very large rapto-like bird. But biologists and other people familiar with big Alaska birds say they're skeptical it's that big.

A recent sighting of the mystery bird occurred Oct. 10 when Moses Coupchiak, a 43-year-old heavy equipment operator from Togiak, 40 miles west of Manokotak, saw the bird flying toward him from about two miles away as he worked his tractor.

"At first I thought it was one of those old-time Otter planes," Coupchiak said. "Instead of continuing toward me, it banked to the left, and that's when I noticed it wasn't a plane."

The bird was "something huge," he said. "The wing looks a little wider than the Otter's, maybe as long as the Otter plane."

The bird flew behind a hill and disappeared. Coupchiak got on the radio and warned people in Togiak to tell their children to stay away.

Pilot John Bouker said he was highly skeptical of reports of "this great big eagle" that is two or three times the size of a bald eagle. "I didn't put any thought into it."

But early this week while flying into Manokotak, Bouker, owner of Bristol Bay Air Service, looked out his left window and 1,000 feet away, "there's this big ... . bird," he said.

"The people in the plane all saw him," Bouker said. "He's huge, he's huge, he's really, really big. You wouldn't want to have your children out."

Nicolai Alakayak, a freight and passenger driver from Manokotak who was flying with Bouker, said the creature looked like an eagle and was as large as "a little Super Cub."

Comparison to an eagle, certainly. Super Cub? Probably not, scientists said.

"I'm certainly not aware of anything with a 14-foot wingspan that's been alive for the last 100,000 years," said federal raptor specialist Phil Schemf in Juneau.

Schemf, other biologists, a village police officer and teachers at the Manokotak School said the sightings could be of a Steller's sea eagle, a species native to northeast Asia and one of the world's largest eagles. It's about 50 percent bigger than a bald eagle.

[g'nad]

They had that Spendenning of Maryland story posted twice last night.

I heard it last night on FOXNews... I went off on a wild rant... my wife sat there patiently till I was done...God bless her...

[Corin Stormhands]

Wasn't around last nite. I just heard Rush mention it...

[g'nad]

A giant winged creature, like something out of Jurassic Park, has reportedly been sighted several times in Southwest Alaska in recent weeks...

Isn't Alaska a little cold for a flying reptillian?...

If it's a bird...you might be onto somethin' there...how long do the great eagles live?...

[Overtaxed]

I went off on a wild rant...

I thought it was rather humerous...like I'd like to see him enforce it.