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.

[JenB]

Oh, that sounds like the kind of 'acting' I've had experience with. When I was 13 my Shakespeare class put on scenes from Romeo and Juliet; I was in the scene where Romeo kills Tybalt, as Benvolio (because I could memorize the lines and that's one of the longest parts in that scene.) We were so bad but we had a lot of fun... and only one girl had to read her lines off of cue cards.

Well, we've got three young women playing Romeo, Benvolio, and Tybalt, and the only guy in the class as Mercutio (because that was a long part and he could memorize lines also, and because the other two girls wanted to get to kill someone. Twisted group.) Anyway, we're not wearing costumes or anything - it's just a five minute scene - but the other three have to have swords. One girl shows up with a plastic toy knife, about five inches long. The other girl has a tinfoil-covered cardboard 'broadsword'. And the guy comes in with a genuine, four-foot arm saber that his father or grandfather had! Now that was an interesting scene, especially since he was the first to get 'killed'!

Anyway the really funny part was that this was at a homeschool co-op with rather, er, strict rules about guy-girl contact, a dress code, all that stuff. It was in the rules that unrelated teenagers of opposite genders were not supposed to engage in physical contact. And the scene we were doing required my character to help the 'mortally injured Mercutio' off the stage. (Mercutio was play by the guy, remember). My mother (who taught the class) had to reassure us that this was a special case, being theatre. Oh, that was fun...

In the interest of full disclosure I should perhaps confess that I was protesting too much when I said I wanted to follow the guidelines...

[2Jedismom]

Oh, they just stand around like "stokin' bottles" as my grandmother used to say! A stoking bottle was a bottle of water kept by the wood burning cookstove to cool it down as needed. Grandma used to say "Well, don't just stand there like a stokin' bottle! Do something!"

[carton253]

I can totally relate...

Just so you know... one week before they go on... the group has opted for getting out of the way. So, now the two fight... there are three who break it up... and the other 15 get out of the way before they return to standing around and looking at each other...

[2Jedismom]

I was in the scene where Romeo kills Tybalt, as Benvolio (because I could memorize the lines and that's one of the longest parts in that scene.)

LOL I think this is why I always got the lead parts in high school...not because I was any good...just because I was dependable and could memorize things incredibly well. Also, I came into my rather sedate family like a tornado from the day I was born...I have a lot of energy! LOL Everyone used to do relaxation exercises before play practice. Not me. They found it better if I ran a few laps around the school! LOL

[carton253]

And the fact you can memorize and would memorize would make you prize students in my class. I would pile on and pile on because the number one killer of any play is the fact the actors don't know their lines.

[JenB]

I find it easy to memorize lines, especially if they're good lines, and I have someone to bounce off of. I still remember scraps of the stuff I memorized for Shakespeare class, but the scenes with other people were easier than the monologues by a long shot.

[2Jedismom]

Matthew (my 6yo) is the same way! He will memorize an entire commercial the first time he hears it and then recite it to me at the store! It's really funny...once, when he was five, we were walking down the cereal aisle and he said something like "I want to experience the chocolatey-peanuty burst of flavor from Reeses Puffs!"

So after much consideration, I let him try out for The King and I. We should find out whether or not he got a part today or tomorrow.

[ecurbh]

I have the entire "Princess Bride" and numerous Monty Python skits memorized. Does that count?

[2Jedismom]

Anyone, who memorizes the entire "Princess Bride", should be taxed!

[2Jedismom]

Let's start a new page!

[2Jedismom]

Ahh!

[Overtaxed]

I don't start new pages until "00".

[Countyline]

I loved your post.

Speaking of being an emotional wreck ...
Have you been to the Elephant Sanctuary site?

http://www.tappedintoelephants.com/

There is a live elephant cam and the seven stories of their elephants play on real player.Great.

... and the most beautiful thread on Barbara ... Quite long. Very moving.

http://www.elephants.com/barbara_inmemory.htm#ourbarbara

If you are and animal lover this is a terrific site.
http://www.elephants.com/

this is the home site.

Sorry I don't know how to make them live links.

[ksen]

Pippin is a Took!

It's Merry who's the Brandybuck.

Oh my. I guess my cover has been blown. Drat!

-Kevin

[JenB]

Anyone, who memorizes the entire "Princess Bride", should be taxed!

Why? It's got some of the greatest lines in all of film history! After all, who doesn't love the whole: "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!" thing? Someone with no sense of humor, I suppose.

[ksen]

...you might as well hand an inmate the keys as expect the Mirkwood elves to keep them locked up!

Hhmmm, well JenB, maybe all that Miruvor has a LITTLE bit of an effect.

-Kevin

[2Jedismom]

I love the PB! I was just kidding with ecurb. The "should be taxed!" thing is part of a Monte Python skit. One skit that I remember was some old guy standing in a stream. He's banging two bricks together and he says in a really slow voice "ANYONE....STANDING IN A STREAM...BANGING BRICKS TOGETHER...SHOULD BE TAXED!" It was so absolutely rediculous is was funny.

[JenB]

Ok, I haven't seen that particular sketch. I thought you were saying that the Princess Bride was vile or something. I know my little brothers (6, 8, and 9 are the ones I'm thinking of) love that movie and run around shouting lines from it all the time. I thought maybe your boys watched it too much and you were fed up with it, or something.

[ksen]

It's got some of the greatest lines in all of film history!

"Bye bye boys! Have fun storming the castle!", "Think it will work?", "It would take a miracle. Bye bye!"

;^)

-Kevin

[2Jedismom]

It's a pretty weird skit and would come on late at night when I was sitting up waiting for my brother to come in from a date or something. The guy would bang the bricks together and then fall flat backward into the stream. British humor, you know.

As a matter of fact, my husband LOVES the Princess Bride! I think I'll get it for him. The boys have never seen it and would probably love it too!