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

-----------------------------------------

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]

Is that the thanks I get for being nice to you today?

I'm a baaaaaaad hobbit! :-)

[Corin Stormhands]

Later folkses. I'm taking Jr. to see The Santa Clause 2 tonite.

I'll check in later while I'm writing.

[2Jedismom]

I'm just now putting the finishing touches on cleaning the computer room. It seems like drifts of accumulated dropped popcorn that I need to spiff up. I'm fixin' to vacuum. I've been on a tear today.

[Sam Cree]

Elvish script

[Overtaxed]

Pssssst! Rosie....my local supermarket carries Vernor's.

[JenB]

Hi! I had a really long day. But before I get caught up...share and enjoy! I am at 3,761 words!

[JenB]

Hey! Where is everyone?

[Corin Stormhands]

Hey, I'm here. Jr. had other plans tonite (went with a friend to his youth group) so we didn't do the movie.

I am writing away. My first chapter is done and I have 1,155 words.

If I can get the second chapter done tonite and get it formatted, I'll put it on the web.

Thanks for the offer Bear, but I've got web space here I can use and I've figured out how to do it. It won't be pretty, but it will be functional.

[JenB]

Yay! I want to see it - I'd love to see just the first chapter, even, but I'll let you get back to writing.

If you write every day you only need about 1,660 words a day. 2000 is my goal...

[Corin Stormhands]

I'm just taking a small break here. I hope to get at least the second chapter done tonite as well. But I'm thinking it may be an extension of the first chapter. I'm not sure I have enough action to justify a separate chapter.

I'll try to get it posted tonite.

[JenB]

Let me know if you have time and read my chapter. I'd like to know how it is recieved!

[HairOfTheDog]

Hullo! - I see you posted all those pics on the spoiler thread! - Thanks! - I haven't been over there yet, but I saw the pings.

I am home from horrid trip to Seattle and horrid Friday-night-two-and-a-half-hour-commute (60 miles, to that means the average speed was less than 30 MPH).

I need a pint while I work my way through these 200 posts!

[HairOfTheDog]

whacked in a sensitive spot sneak...

I guess I don't really have 200 posts to go through if a third of them are SPAM I don't have to read and give thought to!

[JenB]

Oh, poor Hair. My day was not great either. I was at work for 9-1/2 hours, totally without food. See, on Fridays I don't have a car, and we were out of lunch, so I said "Mom, please bring me something - anything - for lunch". And she forgot. Then when we were moving the server room, the router died and we had to call the internet guys, and they came out at 9, so Dad had to go back to work to deal with them.

However, I am ahead of schedule on my novel, so all is well. And tomorrow is Saturday, and I got paid today.

[HairOfTheDog]

Hullo VIM! - Glad you are among the living! - We were starting to wonder! Thanks for checking in with us!

[HairOfTheDog]

Multicolored leg warmers, anyone?

I liked the leg warmers! (still wear them sometimes riding in the winter... Legs get cold!

[HairOfTheDog]

I have opened your story in another window.... look forward to reading it when I get through the thread.

I think I am getting sick... Sinuses are all stuffed up. And I know it is because I was at an elementary school yesterday. People who don't have kids don't build immunities to all the new bugs out there until they get slammed by being around a bunch of kids. Last time I got sick was when I was tutoring at an elementary school.

Rosie... That is an idea, if you start to feel you need one... to help fill your days when you feel yourself getting in the habit of not keeping as busy as you were working... (I know you can only really spend a couple hours a day in job search). My last unemployment period was when I started tutoring reading at the schools, and taking my dogs around to nursing homes. gave me a schedule of events a couple times a week that made me feel good about myself and really helped me stay up.

[Corin Stormhands]

Nicely done! Great start!

*Applause, Applause, Applause*

[JenB]

Thank you!

I'm going to bed but I expect a link from you by the time I'm up tomorrow ;-P

[HairOfTheDog]

What! - I guess I am all the way through the thread! Good evening Jen and Corin!